


Tasse Up

by ireadthisonefic



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Dramedy, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 08:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12207831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ireadthisonefic/pseuds/ireadthisonefic
Summary: Based on a series of true events! How will the "Legendary Barista", Kang Seulgi, deal with a team of eccentric baristas and a new store manager? - Crossposted from aff!





	1. Turnover

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Seulgi said flatly, not even looking up from the espresso machine.

“What? I wrote it under the sleeve. Chances are she won’t even notice,” Wendy muttered. The embarrassment of having written a phone number on a customer’s cup earlier was finally starting to set in. “Large cappuccino?” she interrupted herself to shout out the next drink to the cafe. A surly older man in a blazer picked it up without a word and left. “Besides, she clearly has good taste,” Wendy continued, referring to the girl’s simple order: a small hot tea.

“You’re just lucky the boss is away,” Seulgi continued to scold, rolling her eyes. “Could you get more heavy cream from the back?”

“Aw, it’s almost like you’re jealous that I thought of it before _you_ did,” Wendy teased with emphasis, quickly regaining her usual cheery attitude. She placed a hand on Seulgi’s back as she passed behind, letting her know where she was. Despite being new, Wendy picked up on these unspoken tricks quickly, which was good in this kind of business. It was sink or swim for these new baristas, especially while their boss was on his extended vacation, and it was up to Seulgi and the other floor managers to make sure everyone stayed afloat.

She didn’t even spare a glance at the cheeky girl as she left - too many drinks on the bar waiting to be made. Seulgi wasn’t jealous per se, though the customer had been abnormally pretty. Like, pretty enough for her to forget whether she put vanilla in that caramel macchiato or not. Pretty enough for her to almost make that Americano into a latte. Pretty enough for her to trick Wendy into handing off the drink while she made some excuse about needing to change out a syrup pump.

She tried to keep her stern expression as the newer barista returned with the carton, but it was hard to hide a blush with her hair tied back. She was never very good at concealing her emotions. “Thanks. Can you make me more whipped cream?” Wendy nodded obediently at the seasoned barista and began mixing the ingredients.

Seulgi groaned internally at the amount of drinks in line. She glanced back at the registers, all three occupied by her coworkers furiously writing more and more cups and stacking them behind the others.

“Hope you won’t forget about me over there,” Seulgi called behind her where she spied Wendy struggling with a CO2 canister. Sink or swim, indeed, though Seulgi felt like she was starting to drown in orders.

“Just a sec-” and then there was the tell-tale _fsshhhhh_ and shriek letting the whole crew know that Wendy had just gotten half-charged whipping cream all over herself.

And the back counter.

And the wall.

And Seulgi.

“Wendy!”

“I’m sorry! Oh my god, I’m _so_ sorry!” Wendy spun around and grabbed some paper towels from the sink and began hastily wiping Seulgi off.

“Whoa, watch the hands! Just clean yourself off and come cover for me,” Seulgi said, laughing. It seemed like not a day went by without some little catastrophe happening. And why did it always have to be during the rush?

+++

 

Unfortunately, the girl whose cup Wendy wrote the number on did notice. Or rather, her friend noticed.

“Irene,” her friend pointed at the drink in her hand. “What’s that?” she asked with a strange smile that was a mix of amusement and surprise. She held the cafe door open for Irene and the smaller girl easily passed underneath her outstretched arm.

Irene raised an eyebrow at her as they walked back to the car. “It’s just tea-”

“No, _that_.”  

Following her friend’s gaze, Irene looked more closely at the cup in her hand. “Oh.” It was very obvious what it was. Irene was speechless.

“I mean I suppose I can’t blame them, but really?” her friend continued with a knowing smile. Irene just gave her a stern frown. “Do you remember which barista it was?”

Irene blinked, pausing before she opened the passenger door. She actually had no idea which one it could have been. From the register, to the bar, to the hand-off station, it could have changed hands three or four times, especially with how busy it had been.

Her friend was already settling into the driver’s seat so Irene quickly got in. “Actually... there must have been about five or six of them behind the counter…”

Her friend scoffed. “Well did any of them catch your eye?”

Irene turned to her with a scandalized expression. “I’m going to be running that store in a couple of weeks and you want to know which one of my future baristas I find _cute_?” To be perfectly honest, Irene had been paying a lot more attention to the team dynamics and the store’s flow than to any individual barista. She did seem to recall that they had been mostly girls, though...

Her friend gave her a lopsided smile and shrugged her shoulders. Irene pinched the bridge of her nose.

“This is a lawsuit waiting to happen, isn’t it?” she groaned as they sped off.

+++

 

“Seulgi?” It was a manager from another store. He stuck his head in the back room looking for the veteran barista.

“I’m back here- Heechul?” she called from the desk, turning to look at him curiously. It wasn’t often they got a visit from another store manager, and when they did it usually wasn’t good news.

Heechul looked around the stockroom, making sure it was just the two of them, before shutting the door behind himself. The room became eerily quiet as the noise from the cafe was dulled to a chaotic hum. His normally playful expressions were dark as he walked over to where Seulgi sat.

His confidential nature was putting her on edge. “I’m not interrupting your break, am I?” he asked, seeing a half-eaten sandwich on the desk in front of her.

Seulgi shook her head. He was in fact interrupting, but whatever it was he wanted to talk about, she’d rather just get it over with. It was disturbing to see the sarcastic store manager this serious about something.

“I’m glad. So your manager,” Heechul began hesitantly, “well he’s leaving the store.”

“Kyuhyun?” Seulgi asked, her brows knitting together in shock. It was a silly question - there was only one person he could mean, but the news was so unexpected she couldn’t help but ask. She had been summarily put ‘in charge’ while their manager had gone on a long vacation, but there had been no indication that he wouldn’t be coming back...

“Yeah, Kyuhyun. Listen, Seulgi, while he was skiing... he had an accident.” Seulgi listened numbly as Heechul described the incident: the major head trauma, the broken arm, the long recovery period, the extended leave of absence.

He paused, watching Seulgi’s unreadable expression. He started to reach out a hand to pat her shoulder, but stopped. “Hey, he’s going to be alright. He was on his way up to a district office position anyway.”

She nodded slowly, then turned her gaze up to him. “So what’s going to happen to us?”

Heechul stuffed his hands in his khaki pockets. “Well actually they already have someone in mind to replace him. She’ll start next month.” He knew Seulgi was the rockstar barista of their district, next in line to start training for a store of her own, but company policy dictated that you couldn’t become the manager of a store you had already worked in. Too many conflicts of interest.

“They work quick,” she remarked, still trying to process the sudden change.

“They do,” he agreed respectfully.

Seulgi couldn’t keep this orphaned feeling from washing over her. All of them at the store had been such a tight-knit group, every since Seulgi had started working there a couple of years ago, regularly going out together after work. They were a family. A weird, dysfunctional, family.

“I know you’re probably not supposed to tell me, but do you know what hospital he’s in?”

+++

 

Now it was Seulgi’s turn to shut the door behind herself, creating a pregnant silence within the stockroom. The rest of her crew looked over at her expectantly, easily reading her serious expression. She had asked them all to stay after close for her announcement. Those who weren’t working today had come in specially.

“So,” she began awkwardly, “I don’t know how many of you probably already know, but Kyuhyun’s not coming back.”

Chaos.

“What do you mean not coming back?”

“Was he fired?”

“Oh god…”

“Seulgi?”

Apparently none of them had heard yet. Seulgi sighed and hooked her hair behind her ears, a way of composing herself. Everyone fell silent. “He had an accident and he won’t be able to come back to work. Heechul said he’ll probably be promoted to district manager.”

A mixture of worried expressions and beaming smiles at their beloved boss’s promotion filled the room. Seulgi shook her head.

“Not our district.” Now just the worried expressions remained. “I think it’d be nice to get him some flowers and cards from all of us. Heechul told me where he’s recovering, so if a couple of you want to go deliver it with me, we can do that.” They nodded at her.

“Our new manager starts next week,” she continued, already raising a hand in anticipation of their outcries. “Apparently she’s already been in the store and was impressed by us, so hopefully it will be a smooth transition.”

“She?”

“She’s already been here?”

“I hope it wasn’t during the whipped cream fiasco…”

“Excuse you.”

“I wonder what store she’s coming from.”

Seulgi’s pleading eyes met those of her fellow floor managers, and they tried to help her keep the peace.

“Guys it’s not going to be that bad, really. I know we’re all going to miss Kyuhyun, but this is… just business, you know?” one of them placated, trying to inspire silence. Seulgi gave up and decided to speak over the din.

“Her name’s Irene.”


	2. Moving the Cups

 

Irene couldn’t have been more relieved, standing in the cold, rosy dawn light of the shopping plaza’s parking lot. She saw the barista she had pegged as the most competent of her new crew step out of a car and walk towards the door of her store.

 _Her store_. That sounded really good.

This was Irene’s first official day, and she knew how important first impressions were. Not just with her new set of customers, but her crew as well. But her friend’s question rang in her ears as the newly-minted manager walked up to her barista.

“ _Did any of them catch your eye?_ ”

Flustered, she increased her pace to catch up. “Good morning-!” she called out, though her hurried footsteps had already caused the other girl to turn back towards her. And Irene almost choked on the cold morning air: she had somehow missed how cute this barista was in her previous visit.

Seulgi heard someone running towards her and turned around to look, praying it wasn’t a burglar because her reactions were quite slow in her sleepy state. But no, it was just the girl whose cup Wendy had written her number on. Seulgi’s synapses were firing rather slowly today, but after a moment of watching her with a blank expression, her eyes suddenly widened. Wait why is she here?! Seulgi felt rather defenseless, standing dumbstruck at being unexpectedly confronted by the prettiest customer she’d ever served… who was… holding an apron… just like hers...

No. Way.

“Please don’t tell me you’re Irene,” Seulgi said aloud in a low, wary voice.

“W-what?” Irene asked, her stunned expression changing instantly to apprehension, not at all sure what this girl meant by that.

Seulgi blinked once then stood up a bit straighter.  “I mean- I’m sorry, I didn’t think I said that out loud-!”

Irene frowned at her. Maybe this day wasn’t going to go so well after all. “Unfortunately for you, it seems, I am Irene,” she answered pointedly, walking past Seulgi to unlock the door. At least she could cross this barista off the list of who had written their number on her cup.

Seulgi passed a hand over her face. Sure she had just woken up minutes before hopping in her car and driving to work, but this was a new level of grogginess for her. She hung her head and followed her new boss inside, trying to avoid eye contact.

She reflexively tapped the register to life as she passed on her way to shut off the store alarm, still too embarrassed to ask if Irene had her own set of alarm codes yet or not. According to the register’s clock, it was still half an hour until the store opened, and an hour until the next barista arrived. The set up turned into half an hour of awkward silence and Irene’s remarkably icy expressions. Half an hour of Seulgi meekly edging around around her while she tried to get the store ready.

Seulgi tapped the register’s screen again, relieved to see it was finally time to open, and then went over to the door to unlock it. Thank goodness their regular customers didn’t seem to be aware of their new, earlier opening time, as no one was waiting at the door for her. She was torn between not being alone with Irene anymore - the girl may be small, but she was intense - and not wanting to be bothered by the first set of customers.

A curious sight greeted her when she turned back around from the doors.

Irene appeared to be glaring up at their ceramic mugs on a shelf mounted above the back counters. Seulgi had just opened her mouth to offer her help when Irene suddenly hoisted herself up onto the counter to reach up to the shelf on her own. Seulgi couldn’t help but smile at how adorable it was to see her new, tiny boss angrily climbing up on a counter to grab a cup.

Irene briefly turned her icy glare on Seulgi as the barista walked up to where she was perched. Eyeing the floor, Irene realized she hadn’t quite thought this plan through, belatedly concluding that there wouldn’t be any graceful way back down from her current position. Her stern expression softened a little, especially as Seulgi kept smiling up at her. What was with her?  

“Do you need help?”

Irene inhaled sharply through her nose, her frown intensifying once again as Seulgi’s smile broadened. Without a word, the taller girl offered her hand, and Irene took it, hopping off the counter with a light huff.

Seulgi was surprised to note how their hands matched: both rough and dry from being soaked in buckets of cleaning chemicals day in and day out. “ _If you’re leanin’, you’re cleanin’_ ,” Kyuhyun used to always say, encouraging his team in his way to use any spare moment to keep the store ready for their surprise inspections.

Seulgi was relieved to see - or rather, feel - evidence that their new boss seemed to subscribe to the same work ethic. She felt even worse about her earlier slip up now, worrying that she may have implied that she doubted Irene would be a good manager. Though that hadn’t been what she meant at all, she felt even more inclined to give Irene a chance now than before.

Irene cleared her throat with a raised eyebrow, and Seulgi realized she hadn’t yet let go of her boss’s hand. Dropping it quickly she searched for something to relieve her own awkwardness and noticed the cup Irene had grabbed.

“Do- ah… Did you want something? I could make it for you! A hot tea, right?” she said a little too eagerly. Irene gave her a bemused smirk with her brows furrowed in confusion.

“How did you know?”

Seulgi’s eyes widened, having been caught. “Oh, I uh… I guess I just remembered… from when you came in before,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Out of all of the people you served that day, several weeks ago, you managed to remember me, a one-time customer with such a bland order?”

Seulgi nodded mutely, not trusting herself to try to explain further after Irene seemed to see right through her. It may have been a bland order, but the ‘customer’ was quite the opposite.

“I see they don’t call you the ‘Legendary Barista’ for nothing,” Irene mused quietly. Seulgi blushed and looked away. After a moment of internal debate, Irene handed the cup over. This barista was weird, but impressive, she thought, though she couldn’t shake the suspicion that perhaps it wasn’t just the barista’s skill that helped her memorize her drink.

Seulgi shyly took the cup and Irene thanked her with that small, amused smile.

“No. _WAY_.”

Has it been half an hour already? Wendy, the next barista in, seems to have arrived.

Irene’s expression deformed into an unflattering mix of scandalized and startled at the newcomer’s outburst. Seulgi made frantic cutting motions from over Irene’s head, trying to get Wendy to contain herself.

After her initial outburst Wendy seemed to realize, as Seulgi had done earlier, that she had spoken aloud and covered her mouth with both hands.

Irene just gave a frustrated sigh and walked into the back room without another word.

Wendy waited until the door to the stockroom swung shut to hurry behind the bar and pepper Seulgi with questions.

“ _That’s_ Irene?! That’s really her, right? I’m not just being sleep-deprived?”

Seulgi nodded, laughing wryly.

“What did she say? Did she say anything? Did she mention the cup?”

Wendy gripped Seulgi’s shoulders in anticipation, but Seulgi just shrugged her off with a wide smile. “You’re worrying too much, she didn’t say a thing about it. Maybe she didn’t see it after all, like you said.”

Wendy went quiet after that, but didn’t look disappointed the way Seulgi suspected she would. She left Wendy to her thoughts and began making Irene’s drink. She knew she’d have to find some way to smooth over Wendy’s dramatic reaction to seeing Irene in her store, just as she had tried to make up for her own faux pas.

Irene watched them both through the security camera screen. Seulgi seemed amused at the newer barista’s antics, and Wendy seemed visibly distraught. The less-than-encouraging morning greeting the both of them had given her suddenly reminded of something she had nearly forgotten about in the busyness of opening the store.

She spared a final glance at the screen, confirming the two girls were focused on work, before turning her attention to the office computer. She logged in and pulled up the list of store employees.

And their contact information.

Irene’s eyes narrowed when she found what she was looking for: a certain familiar phone number.

“I uh, brought your-” Seulgi was suddenly cut off by a violently startled motion from Irene as the tiny girl jumped almost to her feet from the desk chair.

“Are you okay?” Seulgi asked, very carefully setting the mug of tea on the desk, away from her boss.

Irene took a moment to compose herself, but when she finally found her voice, she suddenly asked, “Was it you?”

Seulgi blinked down at her. “Me? Yes, it’s just me.” She scooted the cup closer to Irene, seeing that she had calmed down. “I brought your tea.”

Irene searched Seulgi’s face in mild confusion for a moment before pulling her gaze away to take the proffered mug. “... Thanks.” What had prompted her to try and ask the barista about the number directly? She was grateful Seulgi seemed to have a difficult time with subtlety.

Seulgi smiled. She hadn’t even had the chance to make herself a drink yet, though her grogginess from earlier had mostly dissipated. She waited for Irene to take a sip before venturing into an apology on Wendy’s behalf.

“You know, Wendy… She didn’t mean anything by it,” she started lamely.

Irene took another long sip before answering. It might be a good idea to let the two of them sweat a little bit to remind them that she’s their boss. Especially now that she had a sneaking suspicion she knew the reasoning behind their reactions.

“... And?”

That had the desired effect. Seulgi shifted in place, her eyes glancing around at the floor, the wall, the desk, anything to avoid Irene’s intense gaze. “... And, I think we were both just a little surprised.”

Irene waited for her to continue. Despite her lesson in making Seulgi mind their relative positions, she couldn’t help a small smirk at how cute the seasoned barista was being. She quickly raised her mug to her lips to hide it.

“Surprised that, you know, that y-you’re the new manager. And I guess we weren’t… expecting you- ah, for it to be you. I guess.” This was going poorly. Seulgi closed her eyes briefly trying to organize her thoughts.

“And why shouldn’t it be me?”

But then Seulgi surprised her with a smile as she finally met her gaze. “Oh, no, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad it’s you.”

Now it was Irene’s turn to drop her gaze, suddenly flustered by such a direct admission.

“Like I said, I think we were just surprised-” Seulgi began.

But suddenly Wendy swung open the door with her foot, a drink in each hand. “Hey Seul, I could use you when you get a sec. The rush is here.” She avoided looking at Irene, clearly still embarrassed, and retreated back into the cafe.

Seulgi took a step towards the cafe, then remembered she was talking to her boss. She turned back, and Irene just waved her on with a small smile.

After Seulgi left, she turned back to the computer and started adding her baristas’ numbers to her contacts list, updating the name of the contact she had previously added from ‘secret admirer?’ to the name on file.


	3. Night (crew) Rather Than Day

Perhaps Irene shouldn’t have been quite so worried about first impressions after all, as she watched, transfixed, through the security cameras as the evening crew began to show up one by one for their shifts.

First it was Yeri. Despite being the youngest on the team, she had been working at this store almost as long as Seulgi herself, Irene had noted as she curiously glanced through their application information. The girl swept up her long blonde hair into a ponytail and donned her apron. She seemed to be saying something to Wendy, but when Irene looked more closely she realized they were singing at each other. Wendy was using a wide spoon as a microphone while Yeri made sweeping gestures as she danced her way over to the bar.

Irene peeked up at the stereo that played the corporately-controlled radio station: It was some Ariana Grande song she wasn’t familiar with.

Next was Gunhee, the newest, and tallest, barista in the store. Kyuhyun had an eye for synergy, and anticipated that he would fit right in with the quirky atmosphere of their store. And he did. Almost too well.

He yanked open the doors dramatically and shimmied inside, pointing and winking at the regulars as he passed. Wendy cringed and hid behind the bar in second-hand embarrassment, but Seulgi just rolled her eyes and took off her apron. Gunhee in meant she was out.

He stopped in front of the counter with a spin on his heel, resting both elbows between the registers. “Can I order my drink, or do you want me to make it myself?” he asked the Legendary Barista with a wide smile.

Seulgi shoved her apron at him as she passed on her way to the back room. Gunhee threw it back at her with a broad smile.

“Make it yourself, you diva,” Yeri answered for her from the bar.

Gunhee made a show of rolling his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re closing, too?”

Yeri stuck her tongue out at him. “ _And_ Joy,” she sassed back. “It’s her first night as the closing floor manager, so you’d better behave!”

Gunhee looked injured, his expressive features emphasizing how incredulous he was. “ _Me_?!” he pointed at Yeri and looked to Seulgi for support.

Seulgi paused with her hand on the stockroom door and blinked at him, shrugging her shoulders. “ _Both_ of you. And Irene’s here today,” she said simply.

The two bickering kids made the same mildly horrified expression and both looked at Wendy. She glanced between them, momentarily confused at their sudden attention, then a thought struck her.

“Wait a second, does _everyone_ know about what happened?”

Seulgi saw this as her cue to excuse herself, and she slipped into the back room.

+++

 

Seulgi walked over to the dish sanitizer and opened the machine’s door. The steam immediately fogged up her glasses and she stood up quickly, squinting through the lenses in mild irritation. Irene, who was seated at the desk, pulled her attention away from the security cameras and turned to face her with a light smile.

“Everyone here gets along so well,” she began. “But maybe you could would like to look over next week’s schedule to… make sure we’re playing to our strengths,” she barely contained a snicker as Seulgi regarded her in her blinded state.

Seulgi gave up on her glasses, taking them off and hanging them from the collar of her apron. It was somehow safer for her to regard Irene with something less than 20/20 vision anyway: the new manager had been reducing Seulgi to a stuttering mess all day. She returned Irene’s smile with a slightly haggard one. “I know this week's schedule was made before you got here, but maybe don’t put Joy, Gunhee, _and_ Yeri all on the same shift,” she remarked, referring to the current situation.

Irene’s brows furrowed. “Care to elaborate?”

Seulgi shifted a little, suddenly feeling like what began as a joke was now turning into her throwing her coworkers under the bus. Despite her best efforts, her sense of humor never seemed to quite hit the mark with others. “Oh, it’s nothing bad, it’s just that they kind of… I guess you’d say they each have kind of strong personalities,” she tried to explain as diplomatically as possible.

“So I’ve been noticing,” Irene replied with another knowing smile, indicating the cameras with a nod. “But what are you doing? You should be out by now,” she stated suddenly shifting topics.

Seulgi glanced down at the open dish sanitizer. “Oh… I guess it’s just a force of habit,” she replied, quickly bending to lift the tray of clean dishes out of the machine and onto the counter to dry before Irene could protest. She nudged the machine door shut with her foot and walked over to the desk. “Can I sign out here?”

Irene quietly nodded, scooting herself out of the way on the rolling desk chair. She watched Seulgi replace her glasses and log into the timecard application on the computer. The barista’s whispy bangs fell into her face as she glanced down at the keyboard to type in her credentials.

Seulgi felt herself being watched and awkwardly stood up after she finished punching out, not able to meet Irene’s gaze. “Are… are you leaving soon, too?” she asked, since they had come in together.

Irene continued to watch the shy girl. “I want to meet everyone, so I’ll be staying for a bit.”

Seulgi wasn’t sure why she lingered. She had been extra mindful of her actions on the floor today, knowing Irene was probably assessing not just her, but the whole team, but so far she had only asked questions and kept any comments and criticisms to herself. Maybe Seulgi was waiting for some kind of indication of what Irene thought about the morning crew, but the shorter girl simply continued to gaze up at her in silence while she continued to stare awkwardly at the floor.     

_-the single ladies, all the single ladies! Now put your hands up!_

That is, until her phone started ringing in her pocket. Seulgi scrambled to answer it and turned a little away from Irene.

“Hello-? Yes I’m still here, why? No, I was just talking to- you what? Wait no, don’t-”

And a sudden loud banging on the back door to the store made Irene jump while Seulgi just sighed and hung up her phone. Irene watched her with wide eyes as she walked over to the door, peered through the peephole and confirmed her suspicions before opening the door.

Irene’s eyes widened further. The giant red sign on the back door clearly said “DO NOT OPEN, ALARM WILL SOUND” yet the only loud noise was coming from the girl Seulgi let into the stockroom.

“Sorry I’m late. So can I borrow your keys? I can’t find mine-” Joy began, pausing only when she saw Irene sitting at the desk watching her in stunned silence.

Seulgi just covered her face with her hand.

“Wait… Don’t tell me-” and now Seulgi covered Joy’s face with her hands.

Irene slowly crossed her arms as she watched the two of them, trying not to laugh at their antics. She was almost used to it after a whole day of receiving this kind of reaction.

“Eventually someone is going to have to explain this to me,” she mused.

Joy and Seulgi looked at each other for a moment, then Seulgi released her and slowly walked over to where she had balled up her apron on the desk behind Irene.

Irene kept her eyes on Joy, waiting for a greeting, and Seulgi made a cutting motion to her from behind their new boss while she fished in her apron pockets for her store keys.

“O-oh, right, so I’m Joy, and I’m a floor manager... and you must be Irene…?” Joy stammered, her eyes shifting between Seulgi’s warning face and Irene’s aloof expression.

It was going to be a long night.

+++

 

“Gunhee-”

“I’ve got it!”

“Gunhee wait, just-”

“I’ve got it…!?”

" _GUNHEE_ ,” Joy cried out.

There was a high-pitched shriek - which didn’t come from Joy - followed by the sound of a shelf collapsing.

“What was that?!” Irene popped her head up from the condiment bar cabinet across the store.

“And there he goes,” Yeri commentated, watching the carnage unfold.

The stockroom door had been propped open now that the final evening rush had left, and it revealed Gunhee who had his entire torso trapped between two shelves of milk in the industrial-sized refrigerator.

“Joy,” he called weakly, pinned between 24 gallons of milk.

But Joy was already behind him, trying her best to keep the milk on the collapsed shelf from sliding off onto the floor. “Yeri- YERI STOP TAKING PICTURES AND HELP ME,” she growled at the blonde.

“Aaaaand straight to Twitter. Okay I’m coming. Here, stay just like that and I’ll take them one by one,” Yeri calmly instructed as she began setting milk on the dish sink’s counter. “Don’t move… don’t mooooove…”

“Not moving…!” Gunhee grunted, muffled against the nonfat.

Irene watched the three of them in stunned silence, Joy and Yeri working quickly to free Gunhee from his ridiculous position. Though it wasn’t exactly the safest predicament for Gunhee to get himself into, Irene was curiously observing Joy's reaction. It wasn’t always easy for a new floor manager to deal with these nearly hourly minor emergencies and such a young crew, but so far, Joy had come through this shift with just the right mix of wry humor and withering glares. Irene was satisfied.

Once Gunhee was free, he carefully ducked out from the refrigerator, a piece of the shelving unit still in his grasp. He warily glanced over at Irene and sheepishly held up the piece so she could see it from where she still stood across the store. “Uh… The delivery guys are terrible; they just throw the milk into the fridge, and the shelves get loose, and…”

“-And you thought it would be a good idea to try and fix it while all the milk was still on it?” Joy finished for him in a chastising tone.

Gunhee tried to win her over with his wide smile, but Joy, as usual living up to the antithesis of her name, continued to stare him down. He backed to the fridge again and gestured nervously. “I’m just… I’m just gonna… fix this.”

Joy gave a frustrated sigh and turned to continue her work when she spied Yeri. “YERI STOP WITH THE PICTURES!”

“I’m not taking pictures,” she corrected calmly. “Now I’m filming.”


	4. Something Borrowed

"So how did it go?” Wendy asked Joy when the taller girl came in for the shift change the next day.

Joy walked up and collapsed into her arms dramatically, putting quite the strain on Wendy’s tiny frame. “It was so stressful! Everyone kept trying to tell me what to do, and with Irene there to watch it all…”

Wendy patted her back awkwardly, her knees buckling. “How were Gunhee and Yeri?” she grunted.

Though she seemed unaware of Wendy’s discomfort, Joy stood up. She regaled Wendy with the story of Gunhee’s accident in the stockroom fridge, which expectedly mortified the smaller barista. Joy waved away her concern. “It’s fine. He didn’t drop any milk.” Wendy raised a finger, about to state that that wasn’t what she was worried about, when Joy piped up again.

“Oh, and Yeri and Irene get along great, by the way. Just swimmingly,” She added. There was more than a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Wendy blinked at her. “Irene… and _Yeri_?” From their time together on the floor the previous morning, Wendy would have never thought someone like Irene would take so well to someone like Yeri.

“Oh, totally,” Joy continued with obvious sarcasm. “Yeri told her stories all night about us, I can’t wait for Seulgi to come back from break so I can tell her that Irene knows about the Blender Incident.”

Wendy suddenly burst out laughing. “Oh, poor Seulgi- wait what do you mean ‘all night’? How late was she here until?”

Joy shrugged. “She helped us close. We got out on time,” she said off-handedly. “Why?”

Wendy’s brows furrowed. “Well she opened yesterday.”

Joy looked a little guilty. “Oh. I mean we kind of needed the help, but we probably could have handled it. Maybe she wanted to stay because it was her first day…?” she fell silent after that.  

Wendy spoke again as she measured out coffee beans for the grinder. “Well, maybe just tell the others to go easy on her tonight, then.” She turned on the grinder, momentarily put a hold on any conversation.

Joy thought about the evening’s schedule. Irene was going to close the store herself as the floor manager, with Yeri again. She watched Wendy for a moment, the shorter girl expertly discarding the used coffee filter and grinds from the brew basket, and replacing it in the machine. She flicked the tag on the coffee urn over, indicating that the batch was still brewing and not ready to be served yet.

Joy knew how closely Wendy paid attention to all the little details; her sincerity touched them all, and it made them want to work harder, too, but ever since Irene came onboard, Wendy seemed to be off her game. Joy noticed while they’ve overlapped the past two days that any time Irene was mentioned, Wendy started to get distracted and would start to make little mistakes.

“You’ve got it bad.”

Wendy looked over at her suddenly, eyes wide. “Huh? Me? Who-”

“It’s pretty obvious.”

Wendy’s expression took on a note of panic. “No, that’s not- you don’t understand,” she stammered. She grabbed Joy’s shoulders and looked around the cafe conspiratorily, even sparing a glance through the stockroom door’s window. Joy wasn’t sure who she was looking for, though, knowing that Irene wasn’t expected in for at least another hour.

Joy smirked. “Well, for one, you forgot to close the nozzle,” she stated dryly, indicating the small trickle of fresh coffee that was beginning to stream out of the urn in the brewer.

Wendy released her hurriedly, spun back around, and flipped it shut. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she protested breathlessly. “Really, Joy, she’s our boss, now. You know stuff like that’s against company policy,” she lectured in a low voice, talking about relationships between employees and supervisors. And Joy knows Wendy can’t lose this job. Still, the girl’s cheeks were noticeably flushed.

Joy simply shrugged. “Maybe you haven’t been here long enough, but there have been lots of couples like that. Not at this store, that I know of, but Heechul’s store across town, for instance...”

Wendy had heard those rumors. “But those are baristas and floor managers, not _store_ managers,” she pointed out.

Joy gave another shrug. “You have to live your life, Wendy. What’s the harm in following your heart?” Joy blinked and looked down at the shorter girl, having surprised herself with such a cheesy platitude.

Wendy looked up at her with equal astonishment. “I think you’ve been hanging around me too much,” she said with a shy laugh.

Joy nodded her head liberally. “Seriously! But I mean it, Wendy. Just think about it, okay?” She turned to walk away, but she suddenly felt Wendy tug on her apron strings.

“Joy, wait.”

Joy turned and waited.

“... I have a favor to ask.”

+++

 

Seulgi was absently eating a sandwich while people-watching through the security camera screen. Her curiosity was piqued when she spied Irene walking into the cafe and… Heechul? Mouth full of sandwich, she paused and watched Heechul nudge Irene playfully and her boss smacked his arm in retaliation.

She slowly resumed her chewing as they disappeared out of the camera’s view and came into the stockroom where she sat.

“Hey Seulgi,” Heechul greeted with a wave, back to his normal self after their last encounter. “Scoot that butt, we need the computer.”

Seulgi scrambled to grab her lunch and slide it out of their way. Irene was wearing a distractingly wide smile, in the most relaxed spirits Seulgi had ever seen her. Seulgi eyed Heechul suspiciously, but Irene’s voice brought her out of her own thoughts.

“Seulgi, I think I’d like your input on this too, if you don’t mind,” she said, putting a hand on Seulgi’s arm. The Legendary Barista looked like a chipmunk caught in the headlights, with her cheeks full of sandwich and her eyes wide at Irene’s familiar demeanor.

Irene laughed and pushed her gently. “You can finish eating first,” she directed, seeing how she seemed to have caught the barista completely off guard. Seulgi was dangerously cute when she was confused, and unfortunately for Irene, Seulgi seemed to get confused a lot. Irene needed to keep it together - it was only her second day after all.

She cleared her throat and returned her attention back to Heechul who had helped himself to the computer and their upcoming weekly schedules.

“Are you sure you want the new girl?” he was saying to Irene. “She only just transferred, so I haven’t really been able to see how she is yet.”

“Yup,” Irene answered, hovering over his shoulder and appraising the schedules. “And we’ll take Moonbyul too. I need another floor manager at night and I'm not really ready to start training someone new.”

Heechul turned to look up at her. “That’s a good idea. Anyone else? You have a lot of full-time employees…”

Irene nodded. “I know. I don’t think I’ll be able to work in anyone else- Seulgi? What do you think? I don’t want to cut anyone’s hours.”

Seulgi swallowed hard at suddenly being addressed. She had been watching their exchange closely: Irene seemed almost like an entirely different person. The icy girl with the intense stare she had met yesterday had completely vanished. What kind of relationship did she have with Heechul? She had always liked him, and had even considered transferring to his store at one point, but seeing how freely Irene was smiling and laughing was disorienting.

It almost felt like envy. All her attempts to make her new manager laugh had fallen flat, but here sat Heechul, paling around with Irene like they’ve known each other for-

“Do you two know each other?” she asked suddenly, completely forgetting Irene had just asked her a question.

Irene blinked, then a slow smile spread across her face.

“Unfortunately~” Heechul drawled, which earned him a smack.

“I’m the one who recommended her to fill in for Kyuhyun,” he said with a bit more sobriety. As he continued, his voice brightened again. “I was her floor manager at a store a long time ago. A loooooooong-” and another smack, “-time ago.”

Seulgi watched them with mild surprise. That certainly explained why they had been able to replace Kyuhyun so quickly. So Irene and Heechul were… friends? Just old coworkers? Seulgi felt unaccountably relieved to hear that, though she didn’t have time to dissect the feeling before Heechul continued.

“I suppose I should explain this, too,” he said, gesturing to the computer. “My store’s getting remodeled,” he said with a mixed expression.

Seulgi could understand what he was probably feeling. A remodel was exciting: new furniture, floors, layout, maybe even new equipment. But it was hard on the crew. Stores were closed for weeks at a time while they were worked on. It was basically a forced, unpaid vacation unless the other managers in the district could temporarily adopt some of the bereft baristas.

“So you’ll take two of mine, the store in the mall will take two more, and the drivethru store will take one. Everyone else is okay with a break,” he finished with a satisfied smile, looking at both Irene and Seulgi.

Irene nodded. “Yup, we’ll take Moonbyul and Eunae. Seulgi will help me figure out where to put them.”

Seulgi began to nod obediently then suddenly froze. She felt her breath leave her lungs and the blood drain from her face.

“M-Moonbyul and _who_?”


	5. Secret Menu

It couldn’t be _that_ Eunae.

“Seulgi?”

That would be too much of a coincidence.

“Hello?”

Besides, _that_ Eunae was all the way across the country, going to some art school in L.A.

“Earth to Seulgi.”

Although Heechul did say she had just transferred…

Suddenly Seulgi felt something cold and wet sliding down her back, under her shirt. She jumped with a yelp.

“ _What the-_?!”

Yeri covered her loud, childlike laugh with a hand, a mischievous glint in her eye. Seulgi could still feel the ice cube the delinquent had slipped into her shirt melting at the small of her back. She quickly untucked her shirt and shook it out.

“What was that for?!” she cried, still squirming from the sensation.

“You were spacing out, like hard core,” Yeri reprimanded. “I need to go clean the bathrooms, so you need to watch the front.”

Seulgi gave a mock salute to the demanding child. Which one of them was in charge tonight, again? “You can clock out after you’re done and go home since…!” she called after the blonde. She heard the bathroom door shut with a heavy click. “... since it’s supposed to snow later,” she finished to herself quietly. She wasn’t looking forward to driving in it herself, and was hoping it wouldn’t start until she was already warm in bed.

It had been a few days since Heechul and Irene had made their disconcerting announcement to Seulgi, and she now found herself closing with said store manager and Yeri. Seulgi’s schedule had been particularly demanding lately, the gap created by Kyuhyun only being half-filled by Irene while she was still trying to settle into her new role.

Having Moonbyul around will definitely help, Seulgi thought as she began to take apart one of the espresso machines for cleaning. Maybe they could convince her to transfer permanently. These thoughts led her straight back to Eunae, though, and she entered the back room with a pile of dishes and a dark expression on her face.

Irene jumped a little as Seulgi let the dishes clatter into the sink. Before heading back into the cafe, she propped the stockroom door open, as they were wont to do when the evening was finally winding down. Irene watched her intently. She hadn’t missed that horrified expression on Seulgi’s face when they mentioned that they were borrowing two baristas from Heechul’s store, but she also hadn’t wanted to pry while he had still been sitting there between them.

She stood from the desk and walked over to the sink to clean the small pile Seulgi had absently left, putting her in the line of sight of the open doorway and the cafe beyond. She could see Seulgi appearing to give Yeri some final instructions before sending her home, as Yeri was attentively listening, but the industrial sanitizing machine in her ear didn’t permit eavesdropping.

Yeri wasn’t listening, honestly. Seulgi was saying something about driving safely, and all the while Yeri was just watching her expressions. Seulgi seemed worn out, but the impending weather report of snow had scared away all of their customers this evening. There was no accounting for her low energy and unresponsiveness. She was clearly being weighed down by something.

“Are you worried about being alone with her?” Yeri said quietly, nodding towards the back room.

Seulgi’s eyes snapped up to meet Yeri’s, surprised at being interrupted with such a non-sequitur question. “With who? With Irene?” She honestly had no idea what Yeri could mean.

Yeri simply nodded. Everyone’s initial jumpiness at Irene’s arrival to their store had worn off after the first couple of days, but there still seemed to be a few baristas - two in particular who stood out in her mind - who hadn’t quite gotten over that shock. And it was obvious to Yeri that Seulgi was one of them.

Seulgi shook her head. “No, why, should I be?” They had already worked several shifts together, though she supposed that this would be their first time alone again since that very first opening.

Yeri shrugged. “I don’t know you just seem… nervous?” She couldn’t tell what Seulgi was feeling, and maybe nervous wasn’t the right word. Apprehensive? Distraught? In all their years working together, she had only seen Seulgi’s mood dip like this a handful of times, and she felt a growing determination to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Yeri was trying to get at something, but Seulgi wasn’t really in the mood for sharing. Not here, anyway. Not now. “I’m fine, Yeri,” she replied, giving herself a mental - and physical - shake. “Just get home before the snow starts, okay? The sooner you leave, the sooner I can get back to work,” she finished with a small smile.

Yeri squinted at her, not wanting to back down, but realizing that she wasn’t going to be able to make a dent.

“... Alright,” Yeri said in defeat, though she still watched Seulgi out of the side of her eye. “But you’re not fooling anyone.”

Seulgi blinked. Fooling anyone with what? She was starting to feel like she was getting caught up in some big misunderstanding, but when she finally tore her quizzical gaze from Yeri and saw Irene shake her long black hair out of her messy bun in the backroom, she wondered if it was really a misunderstanding after all. Maybe she wasn’t quite so ready for Yeri to go home yet.

When she stole a glance back at the blonde, however, the she was giving Seulgi a knowing smile and a raised eyebrow.

Never mind. “Go. Home. Yeri.”

The cheeky girl gave a little wave and skipped out of the store. Seulgi cautiously glanced into the back room again and watched Irene gather up her tresses into another bun. It was suddenly very warm there, behind the bar. Seulgi anxiously grabbed for the broom, almost knocking it over before getting a grip on it, and busied herself with sweeping. Anything that would force her to keep her eyes on the ground.

Now it was Irene’s turn to steal a glance, watching the “Legendary Barista” nearly trip over one of the rubber mats in her zeal to avoid any possible eye-contact. Irene was fairly certain she had already asked Yeri to sweep the floor hours ago.

She smiled to herself and walked into the cafe. “Seulgi?”

Seulgi flinched. Irene’s smile grew.

“I was thinking…” she began as she grabbed a ceramic mug she had stashed in a lower cabinet - and Seulgi silently applauded herself for not watching her manager bend over - “You know my drink, but I don’t know yours.” She held out her mug to the barista, and Seulgi took it shyly.

“T… tea?”

“Please.”

When Seulgi was a little more sure of her voice, she replied. “I drink lots of things, I suppose. My ‘favorite’ drink keeps changing…”

Irene came to stand beside Seulgi, and Seulgi wondered if she was just going to follow her around, why wasn’t she making her own tea? But she had given too much energy to over-thinking things the last couple of days, and decided to just let it go.

“So what is it now?” the older girl pressed.

Seulgi tilted her head a little in thought. Over the years, the complexity of her style of drinks had diminished nearly to just straight shots of espresso to get her through her shifts, but every once in awhile, she did like to indulge. “I guess I’ll just make a mocha if I want something special,” she finally answered, finishing her thought aloud. She watched the tea in Irene’s mug steep, a bitter aroma wafting up from the sepia-colored water. “Especially when the weather looks like this,” she slowly pulled her gaze away from the cup to look through the cafe windows.

It was pitch black outside, save for the halo of a lone streetlamp on the corner of the block, but Irene knew what she meant. She wouldn’t have pegged Seulgi as a ‘mocha’ kind of girl, but the thought of her enjoying a warm, chocolatey drink and watching the snow was frankly adorable.

The younger girl suddenly turned to her, offering up the drink. Irene accepted it gratefully, though she belatedly realized she hadn’t actually wanted tea. There was something about Seulgi’s work that Irene admired. Her attention to detail, and her deft craftsmanship, everything she did was a precise, practiced motion.

Irene had just wanted to watch her make something, even if it was just a drink as simple as tea. For years she had been the one serving, attending to hundreds of customers a day and it was nice to be doted on for a change. And Seulgi was very attentive. She felt like she was beginning to understand the ‘attractive barista’ trope.

She’d wanted to watch Seulgi make something for _her_.

“Seulgi-”

“How’s your-”

“Oh-”

“Sorry-”

Irene just laughed as she raised her mug to her lips, giving up.

Seulgi smiled, too. There was that laugh she had wanted. Maybe it was better if she didn’t try so hard.

They stood there in silence for a few moments, neither one wanting to accidentally speak over the other again, though it wasn’t for a lack of things to say.

_Did you always want to be a store manager?_

_Your resume says you have a degree in art?_

_So, you and Heechul…?_

_Why have you been so distracted today?_

_Do you live in town? Or near your old store?_

_… Why did you write your number on my cup?_

“Could I make _you_ something?” Irene suddenly asked, her soft voice cutting through the increasingly heavy silence, and her own thoughts which were treading ever-closer towards impropriety.

Seulgi couldn’t help a surprised smile. Despite the fact that a customer hadn’t set foot in the store in almost an hour didn’t mean there wasn’t more work to be done. And Seulgi was still acutely aware of the fact that even though she was closing tonight, she was also scheduled to open the next morning: the dreaded ‘clopen’. She had every reason to want to leave the store tonight as soon as possible.

But still she found herself saying, as she finally met Irene’s intense gaze, “Why don’t you surprise me?”


	6. Quality Assurance

[ _I need your help. Are you free today?_ ] Seulgi shot a text to Wendy and impatiently waited for a reply.

After a few moments one arrived. [ _Yeah why? Is everything okay?_ ]

Seulgi sighed, wishing she could feel more relieved. [ _Could you go with me to Heechul’s store? Can I pick you up?_ ]

[ _Wait don’t pick me up_ ] The first response came lightning-quick, then Wendy sent an additional follow-up message: [ _I’ll come and get you. Why do you need to go?_ ]

Wendy arrived at Seulgi’s apartment in under 15 minutes, and Seulgi was truly grateful she had made a friend as reliable as her.

She pulled up into the driveway and rolled down her window. “Hey, baby, going my way?”

“Cute,” Seulgi muttered, rolling her eyes. She walked around the car and got in the passenger seat, sighing heavily. Seulgi had invited Wendy because the girl had no equal when it came to giving moral support, but Wendy driving was an unlooked for blessing, seeing how shot Seulgi’s nerves were.

Wendy noticed immediately. “Hey, are you alright?”

Seulgi nodded and tried to smile. “Can we go, please? Thanks for driving.”

“No problem,” Wendy quietly replied, confusion and concern still evident in her expression. She turned in her seat and backed out of the driveway and got them on their way towards Heechul’s store. Thankfully the snow from the night Seulgi had closed with Irene had almost completely melted away. Truthfully, winter itself seemed to be finally melting away into spring with how warm it already was today. If Seulgi had been in better spirits, she might have rolled down the window for some fresh air.

“So… do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Wendy ventured again after they had gone a couple blocks.

Seulgi stared out the window. “Did you know they’re getting a remodel?”

“Who, Heechul? That’s neat,” Wendy replied. The longer this went on, the more worried she got. She had never seen Seulgi like this before. Her voice was distant, wistful.

“So we’re going to get a couple of borrowed baristas for a while,” Seulgi went on.

Wendy had no idea where this was going, but tried to hazard a guess. “So you… want to check them out?” Wendy was vaguely familiar with the baristas at Heechul’s store; it was the closest one to their own, and they have had to borrow supplies and ingredients from each other from time to time.

Seulgi was silent for a moment. Wendy spared a brief glance at her. “Yeah, sort of.”

Wendy let the conversation lapse into silence. After a few more minutes, they pulled into the parking lot of Heechul’s store and Wendy switched off the engine. She went to reach for her seatbelt buckle but paused when she saw Seulgi hadn’t moved an inch.

“Are you coming?” Wendy prompted.

Was she coming? Seulgi had briefly entertained the idea of sending Wendy in there alone to see, but Seulgi knew that wouldn’t work. She nodded and got out of the car.

Whatever was going on with Seulgi was starting to put Wendy on edge. Beyond Seulgi’s demeanor, she still hadn’t told the smaller barista why she had wanted her to come along.

Seulgi pushed open the door to the cafe, Wendy a step behind, and immediately saw what she was looking for.

Or who, rather.

She stopped so suddenly in the doorway that Wendy walked right into her. “Seulgi-?!”

Seulgi spun around and Wendy saw a strange look of confusion in her eyes. Seulgi was all but prepared to push Wendy back out of the store when they both heard a crash of ceramic hitting tile, an all-too familiar sound in their line of work.

“Whoops, careful there, Eunae! Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” Seulgi heard Heechul’s voice, and she slowly turned around.

There she was, _that_ Eunae, staring right at her with a mixed expression of horror and astonishment, not noticing Heechul sweeping up shards of the cup she had just dropped.

Wendy peeked over Seulgi’s shoulder, unable to miss the look this unfamiliar barista was giving her friend. “Seul?” she whispered up to Seulgi. “We can’t keep standing in the doorway like this.” They were starting to gain the attention of more people than just Eunae.

Seulgi didn’t know what to do. “Let’s… let’s go.”

Wendy blinked up at her. Seulgi slowly, painfully turned around and gently ushered her back out into the parking lot.

Wendy unlocked the car door for her and Seulgi climbed in wordlessly.

“So…”

“That was Eunae,” Seulgi said emotionlessly.

Wendy had pieced that much together herself.

“And she’s-?”

“My ex.”

Wendy _had_ been about to ask if she was one of the baristas they were going to be borrowing, but Seulgi had just opened up a whole new layer of understanding for her.

“Ah.”

“From L.A.”

“Wait, what?”

“Exactly.”

“I didn’t know you’re from the west coast,” Wendy asked in surprise.

Seulgi closed her eyes. Her thoughts were swirling around in her head so frantically, she hadn’t realized she was only saying half of them aloud. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m not from there. I mean she’s not really from there either. She just... “ _left. She just left._ “She went to school out there. And I guess… I guess now she’s back.”

Wendy started the car and drove out of the lot. She couldn’t get Eunae’s expression out of her mind, the way she had looked at Seulgi like she was seeing a ghost. Though Seulgi looked just as haunted. She let out a long breath. “Was it bad?”

“No.” Was what bad? Seulgi had answered so automatically, that she hadn’t even given herself time to contemplate what Wendy might have been asking about. Was the break-up bad? Had the relationship been bad?

“It was… _weird_ ,” Seulgi said vaguely.

Wendy stayed silent, patiently waiting for Seulgi to collect her thoughts.

Very weird. “We dated for about a year,” she said after a pause. “We met during college.” She wasn’t sure how deep she wanted to get into it with poor Wendy as her audience, so she paraphrased. “We weren’t going to the same school,” Seulgi continued to disjointedly explain. She turned to Wendy suddenly with a curious look.

“Actually, she went to yours.”

Wendy briefly glanced away from the road to regard Seulgi. So this Eunae was a musician? Wendy had been lucky enough that the combination of her hard work scholastically _and_ musically had granted her access to one of the top music schools in the US. The girl must be pretty talented.

“But then she transferred?” Wendy ventured. She had considered doing the same multiple times considering how expensive the school was, but student visas were complicated...

Seulgi nodded, and continued to explain as best she could as they drove. It had been a whirlwind of excitement for Eunae, and a suffocating pit of quicksand for Seulgi. Eunae had met a Californian transplant in one of her production classes, and had been offered an opportunity to intern at a sound studio in L.A. How could she possibly say no to that?

In a time when degrees meant little on paper, and experience and connections were everything, Seulgi had seen the logic in her decision. But that didn’t mean she had been happy about it. “She changed schools so she could finish up her degree out there while she was working,” Seulgi concluded.

Wendy waited for more, but Seulgi seemed to have retreated into her thoughts. They pulled up to her apartment and Wendy put her hand on top of Seulgi’s. “Did you want company?”

Seulgi became acutely aware of the touch, not really one for being in contact with others, but there was something grounding about it. It forced her out of her own thoughts and back into the moment.

“Are you sure?”

Wendy smiled and got out of the car in answer.

Seulgi took her porch steps two at a time to get ahead of Wendy and unlock the door and let her inside. It wasn’t the first time Wendy had stopped by for a visit, otherwise Seulgi might have been a bit more embarrassed about the rather bachelor-like state of her apartment.

Wendy didn’t seem to mind a bit as she made her way over to the couch and curled up on it. Seulgi followed her and sat at the opposite end. She stood again almost immediately. “We didn't have a chance to get drinks... Did you want something?” she asked, not wanting to be a terrible host.

Wendy just laughed and waved away her concern. “No, no, I’m fine. You can relax.”

Seulgi flopped back down with a long sigh, trying to comply with Wendy’s admonishment. They lapsed into a silence, Wendy not wanting to pry further, and Seulgi not immediately offering to continue their previous conversation.

“It’s been such a weird month,” Wendy mused aloud after a while.

Seulgi nodded, then realized Wendy wasn’t looking at her, so she made a small noise of agreement. “First Kyuhyun, then _Irene_ , and now…” she waved her hand in front of herself in a beleaguered gesture.

Wendy turned herself so she was facing Seulgi, resting her arm on the back of the couch. “What do you think of Irene, anyway?”

Seulgi’s eye twitched. “What do I think about her?” she repeated. _She’s gorgeous, for one_. She shrugged. “She works really hard…” she answered lamely.

Wendy smirked. “Great, maybe she can use you for a reference if she applies for another job.”

Seulgi rolled her eyes. What could she say? She was their boss. “She does, though. She put me on a clopen the other day, but have you seen _her_ schedule?”

Wendy had seen it, in fact. Irene had written her own name into every gap in the schedule made vacant by Kyuhyun and still ended up staying late or coming in early to catch up on the store’s administrative duties. That wasn’t quite what Wendy was trying to get at, however. “I have, but what about _her_?”

Seulgi blinked at her.

“What is she _like_? I work midshifts, Seul, I haven’t had the chance to actually talk to her yet.” Seulgi felt a little guilty at that. Wendy had sort of called ‘dibs’ on Irene all those weeks ago, but she still felt inexplicably drawn to the older girl.

There was something buried beneath that aloof exterior that Seulgi was only just beginning to see, like a secret no one else knew. No one except Heechul, at least. And likely her other old coworkers as well.

It was definitely envy Seulgi felt. And perhaps a bit of jealousy now, too, as she looked over at her friend.

But Wendy deserved the world, and if she was interested in Irene, the _right_ thing to do would be for Seulgi to gracefully bow out. The feeling she got in her chest recalling that way Irene cheekily smiled up at her from the rim of her mug, however, was not something she was going to be able to forget easily. So the _least_ she could do was try to give her friend a head start, and she would settle for that.

“I close with her again tomorrow. Do you want to switch?”


	7. Something Borrowed Part 2

It was like her first day all over again. Eunae tied up her hair and adjusted her bangs with small nervous movements, checking her reflection in the rearview mirror. She stepped out of her car and began walking towards the store.

There was more to her anxiety than just entering a foreign environment: once upon a time she used to visit this store as a customer. As the girlfriend of its premiere barista. With mixed emotions, she realized it had only been a handful of times, and she desperately prayed to whatever beverage god would listen that no one would remember her. After all, it had been nearly two years since then.

She hoped beyond hope that this wasn’t Seulgi’s store anymore. That it was simply, as Heechul had put it, _Irene’s_ store.

She turned suddenly, quickly walking back to her car. She yanked the door open and grabbed the apron she had forgotten.

Okay, let’s try this again.

Two new stores in just as many weeks. She thought moving back home would bring a sense of familiarity and peace of mind while she tried to figure out her next steps, but even before she had a chance to memorize all the names of her own coworkers, she was being thrust into another store.

Well to be fair Heechul _had_ asked her, but the conversation had gone a little something like this:

“Hey, new girl!” Even her own manager called her the new girl… she was sure it was a term of endearment, somehow. “Irene could use a hand at her store,” he said, hooking a thumb at the short, distractingly pretty girl standing next to him who swatted his hand away. “It’d only be for the remodel. What do you say?”

Eunae gave him a pained smile, but by the time she found the courage to speak up, he clapped her on the shoulder.

“Great! You’ll be with Moonbyul, so it should be a piece of cake.”

And now here she was, pushing open the cafe doors of yet another unfamiliar store, and sheepishly greeting her _new_ new coworkers as she made her way to the back room. Honestly, she could use the hours, and with that mantra she carried on.

As she stepped into the stock room, however, she regretted not speaking up when Heechul had ‘volun _told_ ’ her to offer her services. For there stood Wendy, leaning over Irene’s shoulder as they both looked at something on the computer.

It answered a lot of questions for her all at once, ones that had been left to turn over in her mind ever since she had seen this girl and Seulgi walk into her store. Taped to the door of the refrigerator was a copy of the week’s schedule and with a fearful eye she read it over and confirmed her suspicions.

So this _was_ still Seulgi’s store.

How little had really changed.

“Oh, h-hey,” Wendy said awkwardly as she turned and saw Eunae not ten feet away, staring up at their schedule. Her brief experience with the barista from Heechul’s store hadn’t quite impressed on her mind how tall Eunae was. Or her athletic proportions. Or how well her long bangs framed her face. Seulgi sure knew how to pick ‘em.

Irene turned to greet her as well. “You’re Eunae, right? I’m Irene, and this is Wendy.”

Eunae screamed internally as she turned to regard them both with a tight-lipped smile. It was going to be a long two weeks.

+++

 

Wendy watched Eunae out of the corner of her eye. She was great with customers: friendly, intuitive, and they loved her. All of the regulars asked if she was new, if she was going to stick around, all the usual superficial questions.

But Wendy had some burning questions of her own. She sidled up to Eunae, helping her mark cups as she rang in customers. “So…” she tried, between orders. “You’re… new to the company?”

Wendy heard Yeri make a derisive noise from the bar. “You come here often?” the blonde translated unhelpfully. Wendy glared at her as she set another cup down on the bar. On the other side of them at the next register, Gunhee dropped his pen.

“Oh, never mind!”

Eunae inhaled sharply through her nose. “H-have a good day…!” she stammered at a customer, watching the tiny barista stomp her way into the cafe to clean the condiment bar. Considering their previous encounter, she was fairly certain that wasn’t what Wendy had been trying to get at, but she was afraid to think where a prolonged conversation with a friend of Seulgi’s _would_ lead.

But Wendy wasn’t going to back down that easily.

She tried cornering Eunae again when she went to clock out and saw her sitting at the back desk eating lunch.

Eunae suddenly looked like she had never seen a more fascinating sandwich in her life when she noticed Wendy approaching.

Wendy paused beside her and shifted her weight uncomfortably, “Hey…”

“... Are you… are you friends with Seulgi?” Eunae suddenly asked, still staring at the half-eaten sandwich in her hands.

Wendy blinked at her, surprised she had gotten a response. Outside of helping customers,  Eunae had been pretty tight-lipped with the rest of the crew. “Yeah, I am.”

Eunae looked up at her, a fleeting distressed look crossing her features. “I…!” but her expression faded back into its previous pensive state. “How is she?”

Wendy considered her question for a moment. This wasn’t exactly the direction she had intended the conversation to go in, but now that they were here…

“She’s good,” she answered briefly. Wendy was starting to get the feeling there were some unresolved feelings between the two girls, but she felt a twinge of instinct to protect her friend from any more heartache. “But she didn’t know you had… come back. You surprised her.”

Eunae nodded. As odd as it was to discuss something like this with a girl she just met, she felt like she deserved any chiding word Wendy might throw her way. “I know. To be honest, she surprised me, too.” A small part of Eunae had expected Seulgi to be long gone from this place. But no, _she_ was the one who had disappeared so completely. Seulgi would have never done that to someone she had claimed to love.

“I didn’t treat her well. If she’s anything like I remember, she probably didn’t tell you that.”

Wendy looked down at her in mild surprise. It would be like Seulgi to gloss over something like that. Or, what Wendy would rather believe was that perhaps Eunae was being a little hard on herself. Especially considering how remorseful the girl looked as she stared at her lunch.

She put a hand on Eunae’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “She didn’t. But really, I think she’s okay. Thank you for helping out today, by the way,” she said, trying to steer the conversation to safer waters as she leaned over to use the computer to clock out.

Eunae leaned back a little to give her more space. There were so many things that were strange about this conversation, but Wendy’s kind words were comforting. She relaxed under her touch. “Y-you’re welcome.” Wendy stood up and give her a small wave before heading back towards the cafe.

“See you tomorrow.”

Eunae returned the small wave with a shy smile.

Just as Wendy was about to push the stockroom door open, however, someone swung it open from the other side and smacked Wendy right in the face with it, knocking the waifish girl into the stock shelves.

“Oh my- OH MY GOD! Are you okay?!” Moonbyul cried from the other side of the door. She checked to make sure she wasn’t about to crush anyone else before quickly coming into the room to assess the damage she had just caused.

Eunae was out of her seat in an instant, and rushed over to Wendy. Both baristas from Heechul’s store walked the poor girl over to the desk and sat her down in the chair.

“Are you okay?” Moonbyul repeated, the hint of an absurd smile tugging at her lips even as she gripped Wendy’s shoulders trying to see how badly the girl was hurt. What an entrance.

Eunae knelt in front of Wendy, trying to peek through the girl’s hands. Suddenly they could both hear it, faint laughter coming from Wendy herself.

“Really, Moonbyul, you’re here for five seconds,” she said, slowly lowering her hands from her face to glare up at the blue-haired barista. “I’m off the clock! What if you gave me a concussion? Workman’s comp won’t cover it!”

Now a smile threatened Eunae’s features too, listening to Wendy upbraid her supervisor. She liked this girl. Her smile faded quickly though. “Wendy, your nose…”

“You’re bleeding!”

Eunae stood up and grabbed a handful of paper towels from the handsink. She knelt again and gently put the towels in Wendy’s hand as Moonbyul encouraged her to tilt her head back.

Wendy laughed at her plight as she pressed the towels to her nose. “Really?” she asked again. “The face?”

Moonbyul couldn’t help a short laugh as well. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know you were standing right there!”

“So you just come barging in like you own the place,” Wendy continued, tasting blood on her lips, making her sigh in frustration. “That’s why the door has a window!”

Eunae took the soiled paper towels from her and got fresh ones, very carefully dabbing at the poor girl’s face.

Moonbyul raised her eyebrow at Eunae. “It looks like you’re going to be just fine with nurse Eunae on the case,” she said with a wink at the kneeling girl.

“You literally knocked me off my feet and you’re cracking jokes,” Wendy deflected, pain evident in her voice. She was embarrassed about the attention, but also touched. She could see what Seulgi must have seen in her.

“I’ll make it up to you, really! I’ll take you all out for drinks, how about that?” Moonbyul offered.

Wendy and Eunae both thought to themselves that they could really use one after today.


	8. Treat Receipt

Irene had just wanted an enchilada. That’s it. Just a simple, cheesy enchilada. She hadn’t asked for any of _this_.

Across the lounge of the Mexican restaurant, Wendy, Eunae, and Moonbyul were drunkenly singing What’s Going On by 4 Non Blondes on the karaoke stage, while Seulgi and Joy looked on from the bar, unaware of their boss’s presence.

She should leave before they saw her, but there was something fascinating about watching her team interact outside of the cafe setting that kept her seated at her tiny corner table…

“Remind me why we’re here again?” Joy leaned in and asked Seulgi wryly.

“ _You’re_ the designated driver,” Seulgi answered in a similar tone. “But why am _I_ here?” she asked half to herself, watching Eunae singing enthusiastically.

“...And I said HEEEEY-EEEEY-EEEEY-!”

Seulgi laughed a little as all three of the baristas on stage threw back their heads and shouted the chorus to the entire restaurant. The last place Seulgi expected to see Eunae again after that moment in Heechul’s store was here.

Moonbyul stood in between the two other baristas, her arms thrown over their shoulders as all three of them leaned in towards the mic stand to continue the cacophony. “I said HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON!” the bar shouted with the girls in unison. After the final chorus, the two baristas from Heechul’s store collapsed into a fit of giggles, leaving Wendy to dramatically sing the final refrain by herself.

And damn, that girl could sing when she wanted to.

Seulgi and Joy applauded as all three of the girls unevenly left the stage to join them at the bar. Joy stood up and gestured for Wendy to sit. The injured, and inebriated, barista gratefully obliged and took her place next to Seulgi.

“Let me see your face,” Seulgi quietly ordered, gently brushing Wendy’s bangs out of her face. The bruise across the bridge of her nose was already starting to show, and Seulgi shot a glare at Moonbyul for injuring her friend.

From the other side of Wendy, Moonbyul gave an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to! We took good care of her after…” she said bracingly, clapping Wendy on the shoulder as stood. “Here, Eunae take my seat, I’m going to go make a call.”

Baristas know nothing of weekends, so when Moonbyul had offered to take them out, it hadn’t quite registered that it was a Saturday night and that everything would be busy. Their party of five had only managed to grab three stools at the bar, leaving two of them to stand while they all crowded around with their drinks and appetizers.

Eunae slid into Moonbyul’s vacated seat quietly and sipped on her margarita, coming down from the excitement of their karaoke collaboration. She too hadn’t anticipated seeing Seulgi in a setting quite like this and wondered which one the ‘Legendary Barista’s’ coworkers had thought it’d be a good idea to invite her along. She briefly caught Seulgi’s eye as she finished with her examination of Wendy and Eunae dropped her gaze quickly, taking another long draught of her drink.

This day was getting stranger and stranger.

Meanwhile, Moonbyul was already pulling up a certain pink-haired barista’s contact information on her phone as she walked right past Irene’s table. She did a double-take.  “Ire-?!”

But Irene put a finger to her lips in a hushing motion, indicating the pack of girls at the bar with a nod.

Moonbyul followed Irene’s gaze to her party, then she looked back at Irene and winked. She continued on with a sly smile, heading out into the parking lot to make her call.

Irene watched the remaining four girls at the bar. She saw how attentive Seulgi was with the other girls: even though Joy was standing, she would still turn to include her in the conversation; how she was keeping a close watch on Wendy - but she seemed to barely have a word to say to Eunae, the girl from Heechul’s store. Suddenly she saw Seulgi get up and head towards the bathroom, and Eunae’s eyes followed her.

Was it a crush? Irene narrowed her eyes. It was a good thing company store remodels were quick.

With Seulgi gone, Joy quickly slid into the empty seat, idly picking at their plate of salsa and chips. With an eye on Joy, Wendy leaned towards Eunae. “I’m sorry,” she began in a whisper. “I didn’t know Joy was going to ask Seulgi to come, too.” Since Moonbyul had invited them out for drinks, Wendy thought it had been an inspired idea to invite the minor as well as their ride home. Seeing Seulgi in Joy's car when the taller girl had come to pick them up, however, had made her instantly regret it.

Eunae looked up from her drink and smiled. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize to me.” Seulgi may have been tight-lipped with her all evening, but at least her expressions were cordial any time their eyes met. She looked into Wendy’s face. “How are you feeling?” she asked, changing the subject.

Wendy let her have a turn examining the damage, but couldn’t quite find the courage to meet her gaze. “I’m alright. It barely hurts,” she lied. The constant, if dull, pain spiked with every laugh and facial expression, which was killing Wendy and her over-reactive nature.

Moonbyul came up and threw her arms around the two of them again. “Hey kids. Didya miss me?” She looked between them with a smirk. “Or am I interrupting?”

Wendy rolled her eyes and Eunae shrugged her arm off. “Is 'neither' an option?” Wendy asked dryly.

Moonbyul put a hand to her chest with a pained expression. “Wendy, you wound me.”

“Who wounded whom?”

“Touche.”

Wendy was eyeing the karaoke stage again. “Did you want to have another go?” she asked the party.

Joy shook her head. “Ask me again in a year when I can drink, too."

Moonbyul laughed. “Yeah I think I’m good.”

Eunae just raised her hands in a distressed gesture and shook her head.

Wendy laughed. “Well I’m not going to let any of you spoil _my_ fun,” she said, taking one last sip of her drink before pushing away from the bar.

“Do you want help picking something out?” Joy offered, but Wendy waved her off.

“Oh no, I think I know what I’ll pick, if they have it.” Eunae tilted her head as Wendy gave them all a wink and stepped up onto the stage.

Seulgi came back to sit in Wendy’s seat just as she started hearing a few hoots and hollers from the crowd thinking there was about to be more drunken revelry. She was about to join the jeering, but when a vaguely familiar piano line came in, her laughter died away.

“ _Closing time. Open all the doors and let you out into the world_ ,” Wendy began soberly. “ _Closing time. Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl_.”

Seulgi smiled down at her drink nostalgically. Talk about a throwback.

“ _Closing time, one last call for alcohol_ ,” Wendy continued, smiling shyly as she closed her eyes, “ _so finish your whiskey or beer. Closing time, you don’t have to go home but you can’t. Stay. Here._ ”

“I know who I want to take me home!” Joy shouted from beside Seulgi, pumping her fist in the air.

“I know who I want to take me home!” Seulgi laughed, raising her glass.

“I know who I want to take me home…” Irene whispered in her corner.

Wendy laughed and pointed at her party during the instrumental interlude. All four of the baristas pointed back at her and cheered.

“She’s really good,” Seulgi said aloud.

“She really is,” Eunae agreed.

Startled, they both looked at each other. How long had they been sitting next to each other?

Eunae dropped her gaze. How drunk was she? When she dared to glance back up at Seulgi again, the ‘Legendary Barista’ gave her a kind smile and raised her glass. Eunae returned the smile with a small one of her own, and clicked her glass against Seulgi’s.

A truce? They weren’t exactly fighting, but it felt like the appropriate word all the same. How much of all this awkwardness was just been in her own head? She supposed those would be the thoughts that would keep her company during tomorrow’s hangover.

Seulgi turned in her seat, about to say something to Moonbyul, when suddenly she saw a familiar girl sitting at a corner table talking to a waiter.

“... _Irene_?”

Moonbyul looked down at Seulgi in surprise, then followed the barista’s gaze to where Irene was sitting. She smiled knowingly. “Well would you look at that.”

Seulgi looked up at the blue-haired barista, then nervously turned back around to stare into her drink. Moonbyul laughed and clapped Seulgi on the back.

Seulgi winced but kept her head low. How long had Irene been sitting there? Had she seen them all? She supposed there was no missing Wendy up there on the stage.

“ _So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits_ ,” Wendy’s melodic voice carried through the lounge. “ _I hope you have found a friend_ ,” she sang with a wink, pointing at Eunae.

Eunae pointed at herself questioningly and blushed.

Moonbyul threw her head back and laughed. Kids. They were lucky none of them would probably remember this in the morning. She leaned on Seulgi’s shoulder and said low in her ear, “I’ll cover for you if you want to go talk to her.”

Seulgi’s face burned. There was _no way_ that would be a good idea this late into a night of drinking. She chanced a glance at their boss and saw she was talking to the waiter again.

“ _Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…_ ” Wendy finished softly with a small, curious smile. There was sporadic clapping and cheers from the bar. She hopped off the stage and weaved her way back through the crowd to her friends.

Seulgi looked Moonbyul in the eye and they gave each other a nod. “That’s the spirit,” Moonbyul quietly encouraged. She gave Seulgi’s hair a light ruffle as the ‘Legendary Barista’ gathered herself. Just as she turned to walk over to Irene’s table, however, she noticed their boss was no longer there.

Shocked, Seulgi tugged at Moonbyul’s sleeve. The older girl followed her gaze to the empty table and quickly scanned the rest of the lounge. “She’s probably still around- maybe in the parking lot. Go, _go_!” She gave Seulgi a push, and the barista stumbled into the crowd.

What was she doing? There was no way Irene could have missed that they were all sitting at the bar. Why hadn’t she joined them? Was it inappropriate? Kyuhyun had come out with them sometimes, but Seulgi supposed it had always been a little awkward, drinking with the ‘boss’.

She pushed her way outside into the parking lot. The sudden quiet overwhelmed her senses. She glanced around, trying to remember what Irene’s car looked like. She was just about to give up and go back inside when she turned and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Irene was leaning up against the front of the restaurant watching her, hiding a laugh behind her hand. Seeing Seulgi come rushing out of the restaurant looking for her charmed her immensely. This girl was _very_ dangerous.

“Hi,” Seulgi said breathlessly.

“Hi,” Irene returned.

Back at the bar, Moonbyul flagged down the bartender. “I think we’re through, here. What’s the damage?” she asked.

“Oh, your bill’s been paid, miss.”

“What- the whole thing?!” Moonbyul choked. She had been expecting to sink nearly half a paycheck to make up for breaking Wendy’s nose, especially with the way these girls drank. The bartender nodded through the restaurant’s windows out into the parking lot, where Moonbyul could see Seulgi giving Irene that dopey smile of hers.

“Oh. Cool.”

“I… I didn’t know you were here,” Seulgi said shyly, staring at the asphalt between them. “You could have joined us.”

Irene smirked. “I didn’t want to interrupt,” she said quietly.

Seulgi raised her eyes. “You?” she laughed. “You wouldn’t have been interrupting,” she said, matching Irene’s tone.

Irene took a breath. How is it Seulgi could switch between being shy and serious so quickly? No, that wasn’t right. Seulgi was usually serious. It was just that sometimes her shyness seemed to fall away unexpectedly, and it always caught Irene off guard.

Seulgi took a step closer. “You should come with us next time.” It was Irene’s turn to drop her gaze now. How she wished it were still winter for how warm it suddenly was. “O-or you know, if you wanted to just go… together some time...”

“Kang Seulgi. Are you asking me on a date?” Irene asked, the mischievous look in her eyes at odds with the brilliant blush on her cheeks.

“ _No_!” Seulgi practically shouted. “I mean… maybe? I mean that depends! I mean-”

Irene kissed her cheek. “You’re cute when you’re drunk.”

Seulgi watched her walk away in stunned silence. It wasn’t until Irene had already driven out of the parking lot that Seulgi finally regained her senses.

“So… is that a yes?”


	9. Chapter 9

So much for giving Wendy a head start. Seulgi watched the petite barista fumble with the espresso machine cleaning tablets out of the corner of her eye while she wiped down the counters.

“Crap…” she heard Wendy mutter to herself as she dropped a tablet. It rolled under a cabinet and out of sight.

Seulgi came over and took the bottle from her. “Need some help?” she asked, shaking out more tablets and slotting them into the cleaning key.

“The only help I need is some hair of the dog,” Wendy said with a hoarse voice. She thanked Seulgi just the same, inserting the cleaning key back into the machine to start the cycle.

Seulgi gave her a wry smile. It seems they were both questioning their actions from last night. “How much do you remember?”

Wendy got a faraway look in her eyes. “Everything… I think. Hopefully.” She suddenly turned and gripped Seulgi by her shirt collar. “Why? What did I do?!” _Aside from flirt with your ex_ , Wendy thought to herself, breaking into a cold sweat.

Seulgi laughed, making them both wince at the loud noise. “Nothing! I was just asking,” she said, putting up her hands disarmingly. Wendy released her and took a step back.

“What about you? I… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Eunae was coming.”

Seulgi shrugged, though Wendy saw her expression darken a bit. “You didn’t know I was coming. I kind of decided last minute.” Seulgi tossed the dish rag back into the sanitizing bucket. “I mean, I’m bound to run into her here at some point,” she sighed. “It’s just… I guess I don’t know what to say to her.”

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she knows what to say either,” Wendy said with a sympathetic look.

Seulgi gave her a strange smile. “You talked to her about it?” It would be just like Wendy. People were drawn to her emotional generosity and sincerity, and if Eunae was anything like Seulgi remembered, it’d be easy for her to fall under Wendy’s spell and confide in her.

Wendy glanced away. “Party foul?” she asked timidly.

Seulgi shook her head. “No, no, it’s not that.” She absently pulled at the espresso machine’s steam valve lever, letting the brief hiss buy her time to gather her thoughts. “She was never very good at talking about her feelings.”

 _Doesn’t that sound familiar_ , Wendy thought, raising an eyebrow at the ‘Legendary Barista’. Seulgi wore her heart on her sleeve, but having a conversation with the girl sometimes felt like pulling teeth.

“Alright, alright,” Seulgi said, acknowledging the look Wendy was giving her. “I get it. I’m not fantastic at it either.” But she will need to do something before the remodeling period was up. It would be silly to not use this opportunity to sort out their differences.

Wendy let Yeri maneuver around them and slip into the back room again before continuing. “Are you still, you know…?”

“In love with her?” Seulgi finished for her.

When Wendy had written her friend’s number on Irene’s cup all those weeks ago, she had no idea Seulgi had this kind of unresolved history with another girl. She just hadn’t been able to miss the way Seulgi had watched Irene the moment their boss had stepped foot inside their cafe.

“No,” Seulgi sighed out. Wendy heard the unspoken ‘but’, though she wasn’t sure if she should prompt Seulgi to continue or just wait patiently. Surprisingly, Seulgi continued. “We just kind of… _stopped_.” None of their arguments about moving and transferring had escalated to the point of yelling or slamming doors, but Seulgi did remember one line standing out to her even after all this time:

_Not everyone wants to work in food service forever!_

Seulgi felt her jaw tighten even at the memory. She had seen the regret on Eunae’s face as soon as she had said it, but it was too late. The divide between them had been revealed. There had been so much she had wanted to say back.

_Do you think you’re the only one with dreams?_

_Do you think I want to do this for the rest of my life?_

_Can’t you see that I’m happy for you, even if it hurts so much to know how easily you can just leave?_

But in the end all she had been able to do was hold back her tears and silently watch Eunae pack up her life. She had let her go.

“No,” Seulgi repeated, “But I think there’s still some things we need to talk through.”

+++

 

YR: [ _Gimme the goods_ ]

JY: [ _Aren’t you at work?_ ]

Yeri made a derisive noise. She glanced up at the closed stockroom door, where she could see Seulgi and Wendy talking through the window. [ _I’m on break_ ] An easy lie. It was a slow day, anyway; it always was the first few nice days of spring.

JY: [ _Whatever. What goods?_ ]

YR: [ _From last night_ ] Why was Joy being needlessly obtuse?

JY: [ _I’m not your spy. Ask them yourself_ ]

Yeri thought for a moment. She decided it’d be best to cut the crap. [ _Have you noticed Seulgi lately?_ ]

JY: [ _No? Is she sick?_ ]

YR: [ _Lovesick, maybe_ ]

JY: [ _WHAT_ ] Good. That got her attention.

YR: [ _So spill! Did she say anything last night?_ ]

YR: [ _Not really? Actually she didn’t really talk much at all. There was a time near the end of the night where she kind of disappeared, but we found her outside_ ]

Yeri quirked an eyebrow. Must have been quite a night. [ _Did she seem down?_ ]

JY: [ _I don’t know. I don’t work with her as much as you. But what do you mean lovesick anyway?_ ]

YR: [ _Just answer the question. You were the only sober one there, right? Who else was there?_ ]

JY: [ _You can’t just say that and not tell me_ ]

YR: [ _Was Irene there?_ ] Maybe that would clue her in.

JY: [ _Irene? No, why?_ ] Or not.

JY: [ _Wait_ ] Yeri waited.

JY: [ _OMG_ ] Here it comes.

JY: [ _WITH IRENE????_ ]

“And there it is,” Yeri smirked to herself. [ _Don’t make me regret saying anything_ ]

JY: [ _Sorry I just don’t know how I could have missed something like that_ ]

YR: [ _You just said you don’t really work with her_ ]

JY: [ _Yeah she’s usually day crew_ ] Except lately, Yeri thought to herself.

Before Yeri could respond, Joy sent her another text: [ _I did see something else juicy last night, though~_ ]

YR: [ _Don’t ever say the word juicy again._ ]

JY: [ _Do you want to know or not?_ ]

YR: [ _Fine_ ]

JY: [ _Wendy and the girl from Heechul’s store_ ]

YR: [ _WHAT_ ] Yeri’s eyes shot back up to watch the petite barista through the stockroom door’s window.

JY: [ _It gets better._ ]

Yeri’s eyes sparkled with glee.

+++

 

An hour west of the unfolding daytime TV drama, Irene was sitting in the basement of another store, watching a presentation about the upcoming administrative changes for the company’s third quarter with the other 13 store managers in the district.

Heechul leaned over and whispered to her. “Is Solji wearing extensions?”

Irene glared back at him incredulously. “Are you serious right now?” Gossiping about their regional director as if they were in high school. “She’s our _boss’s_ boss!”

Heechul shrugged. “I just don’t like it when anyone’s prettier than me.”

Irene tsk’ed so loudly, Solji paused in her presentation and several heads turned their way. Irene punched Heechul in the arm turned beet red.

“Did you have something against the new tea distributor?” Solji teased.

Irene waved a hand dismissively and practically melted off her seat and onto the floor in embarrassment. Heechul snickered. Solji smirked and continued.

Heechul leaned in again. “Actually I have some bad news,” he murmured.

Irene straightened up in her seat, composing herself after getting scolded by her senior. “What do you mean?”

“The contractors have to replace the plumbing in the building, all the way out to the street. It could take a month.”

“Your store’s going to be closed for a month?!”

“Oh, thank God!” a voice whispered behind them. Irene spared a glance over her shoulder and saw Yongsun quietly fistpumping. The pink-haired barista had recently been thrust into the store manager training program and placed in the troubled Drivethru store for her assignment. “We could really use the help there, so keeping your baristas for a little longer is actually good news.”

Heechul leaned back in his seat, a serious expression crossing his features. “What’s going on _now_?”

Yongsun pressed her fingers to her eyes and sighed wearily. “We had two people quit, one right after the other. Guess who gets to learn how to approve overtime for baristas now?”

Irene winced. She was lucky her current crew seemed fairly stable, at least for now. “If you need more, I can give you Eunae or Moonbyul-”

Yongsun and Heechul shared a look, and the aspiring store manager shook her head. “No, I think we’ve got it covered for now, but I don’t know how we’re going to find time to hire new people. We’re going to need all the help we can get going into the spring BOGO sale…”

The three managers fell deathly quiet. The dreaded, annual half-off sale for their blender drinks. Indeed, as Irene turned back to face Solji and her powerpoint slides again, the regional manager was already delving into the new spring offerings being released specifically for the upcoming sale.

Heechul leaned back towards Yongsun once again, “After this maybe we should talk about shuffling some of the baristas around. I don’t mind doing the hiring and training for you while you keep one of mine.”

He glanced at Irene. “Maybe we could both spare someone.”

+++

 

Irene pulled up a group chat with all of her baristas, trusting that Heechul would get in touch with Moonbyul and Eunae for her.

IR: [ _I’m coming back from the district meeting now. Heechul told me that his store’s going to be closed for the rest of the month_ ]

SG: [ _What does that mean?_ ]

JY: [ _So Wendy lives with me now, right? Well I think she was still pretty drunk, because while I took us home she was telling me all about how Eunae and Seulgi used to be a thing once upon a time_ ]

WD: [ _Joy_ ]

JY: [ _Oh f*ck_ ]

IR: [ _Excuse me?_ ]

[ _Yeri has left the group chat_ ]


	10. Percolate

Irene’s brow furrowed as she pulled up the schedule on the store’s computer. She had been so proud of herself for feeling like she had finally gotten it right: the right people on the right shifts at the right times, each with the hours they needed. She had even been able to sneak in a few overlapping shifts with Seulgi - nothing overt, but just often enough to satisfy her. Shift compliment at the manager level was expensive for a store, and Seulgi was the most expensive floor manager in the whole district.

But now Irene wondered if her schedule was really as perfect as she had first thought. Her eyes fell to the last name on the list, Jo Eunae. Irene didn’t know her strengths, so she had thrown the girl on midshifts to cover the night crew’s breaks, but now she was heavily reconsidering where to place her.   

Instead of playing to her baristas’ strengths, it now seemed she was going to have to consider their weaknesses.

With the spring half-off sale right around the corner, she couldn’t let her personal bias get in the way of the store’s success. As she read across the days of the schedule and saw just how much Eunae’s shifts were going to cross Seulgi’s, and even her own, she wondered if she hadn’t handicapped her own team.

Maybe she was overthinking it - she hit the edit button and started playing with the shift sliders. After all, Joy had said _once upon a time_ , so who knows how long ago that could have been? But Irene remembered the way Seulgi had practically ignored Eunae at the bar the other night, and how Eunae had secretly watched her. Something was up.

“... Oh.”

Irene whipped around with a hand on her chest. Seulgi blinked at her intense reaction. This girl startled rather easily… She knew it was only a matter of time before she’d have to face Irene after Joy blurted out her dramatic backstory to the entire team, but she had been hoping not to run into her alone in the back room.

She walked up to her boss. “Irene, I can explai-”

“Will it affect your ability to do your job?” Irene cut in coldly.

Rebuked, Seulgi retreated a step. “... No.”

“That’s all I need to know,” the store manager said, turning back around to resume her work on the schedule.

It felt like that first morning they had opened together. Just when Seulgi thought she was finally starting to see through Irene’s icy exterior, she was being shut out all over again.

“Irene.”

“Yes, Seulgi?” Irene’s tone was aloof. Very _professional_. Seulgi didn't like it one bit.

But she didn’t really know what to say to change it. “I still feel like I should explain what Joy probably meant.”

Irene clicked out of the schedule and stood. If Seulgi wasn’t going to let her work, she’d go back onto the floor. She didn’t want to hear about Seulgi’s past with Eunae. She didn’t want to get caught up in whatever messy entanglements there were in this store. Or this district. She had been foolish.

She should have realized she was in trouble the moment she found out it had been Seulgi’s number on her cup.

“Your business is your own,” Irene said curtly. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

Seulgi looked away. She _wanted_ it to be Irene’s business, in a strange way. She _wanted_ Irene to want to know. She wanted Irene to understand that there wasn’t anything between her and Eunae. Not anymore.

Seulgi took a step forward, and suddenly Irene took a step back, which surprised them both. Seulgi took another step, and Irene backed up until she was against the desk. Her expression changed from cold to wary as she eyed the pensive Seulgi.

“I want to explain. If you’ll please just listen...”

Irene watched her wordlessly, so Seulgi took that as her cue. She sighed. “Eunae and I broke up a long time ago…”

“How long ago?” Irene heard herself ask. One of her many fears since reading Joy’s text was that she was some kind of rebound for the ‘Legendary Barista’, and that wasn’t exactly something worth risking her job over.

Seulgi looked away and thought. “Two… almost two years ago?”

“Then why did you react that way when you found out she’d be working for us?” Irene hadn’t forgotten.

Seulgi’s brow furrowed. The whole story she had tried to explain to Wendy clogged her thoughts. She once thought she had finally put it all behind her, but seeing Eunae appear so suddenly in her life again like that? “It’s complicated.”

Wrong answer. Irene felt like an idiot. Of course this kind, hardworking, beautiful girl had to have some kind of flaw, and here it was: she was emotionally unavailable. She gave a quiet, dry laugh and made to push past Seulgi. “Of course it is.”

But Seulgi grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“Don’t,” they both said simultaneously. They looked at each other for a quiet moment.

“Let go of me,” Irene said lowly, though she made no move to pull out of Seulgi’s grasp.

“Not until you understand,” Seulgi countered with a pleading note in her voice that softened Irene’s hard stare.  

“Understand _what_ , Seulgi?” She knew the girl was no John Keats, but she silently prayed Seulgi would give her a reason not to walk out of that back room.

And to be fair, Seulgi did make a good attempt.

She pulled Irene close and put her hand on her cheek. Irene’s protest died against Seulgi’s lips as the barista leaned down and carefully kissed her. Seulgi released her wrist and wrapped her arm around Irene’s waist, gently pulling her even closer. Irene let herself press against Seulgi’s tall frame, hearing the intoxicating way Seulgi sucked in a quick breath before kissing her again, a little more confidently, a little more deeply.

 _This isn’t right_. Oh, it certainly felt right, but that didn’t negate the fact that they were being recorded by the security camera. Or that any number of baristas in the cafe could walk in on them. Irene balled her fists and pushed Seulgi a little away by her shoulders. She felt even this scant amount of space between them rather acutely, despite herself.

Seulgi blinked down at her, surprised to see Irene looking up at her with a furious expression, especially after she had been fairly certain Irene was kissing her back. And there was the fact that Irene still seemed content to stand there with Seulgi’s arm around her.

“How could you?” Irene asked quietly, though her frustration was evident. _How could you do this to me_? “How dare you?!” she whispered. This isn’t how adults solve their problems. Seulgi was making her feel more foolish by the second.

Seulgi’s mouth opened and closed a few times in genuine shock. She was still slowly processing everything that had just happened, even though she had been the one to precipitate the kiss. “I… I’m sorry?”

Irene stared up at her, her anger being replaced by confusion. For a girl who appeared to operate in blacks and whites, she was running Irene around in circles.    

“- _you can’t go back there_!” Gunhee squeaked in distress as Wendy pushed past him and into the back room.

“I need more cups. What’s the matter-” she paused seeing Irene and Seulgi, “-with you…”

Seulgi retrieved her arm from around Irene’s waist in a delayed reaction.

Wendy wordlessly grabbed a sleeve of cups out of a box and scurried back into the cafe.

Seulgi closed her eyes, honestly afraid of the look Irene was probably giving her. She peeked, and sure enough the smaller girl was glaring up at her intensely, her cheeks a bright crimson.

“Irene, I-”

“Just… Seulgi,” Irene said, pausing for a breath while she willed herself to look anywhere but at Seulgi’s lips. Yes, she could lose her job, but there was more to it than that. “I can’t just… I just _shouldn’t_.”

Seulgi searched her face, but Irene was dodging her gaze. “Could I… maybe change your mind?”

Irene finally looked up at her, and Seulgi swore she saw a tint of vulnerability in her eyes. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” But oh, how she dearly wished Seulgi would try.

Seulgi’s expression darkened. She knows she hasn’t exactly inspired a lot of confidence in her relationship capabilities lately, but what could she do to fix that?

"I... have a lot of work to do," Irene said as she turned away. And she had a lot to think about. "Please, Seulgi."

What more could Seulgi say? "I'll be on the floor," she replied as she started walking away. "If, you know, if you need me."


	11. Viole(n)t

 

 

**+++ A Tasse Up Intermission +++**

 

_A few months ago..._

“And I’m sick of you college dropout hipster wannabe pothead _fagg*ts_ not knowing the difference between a godd*mn latte and a cappuccino!”

“... Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down-”

“ _HOW’S THIS FOR CALM?!_ ” he screamed as he threw his drink at a certain blue-haired barista.

The cafe went silent. They all heard it. Louder than the customer’s shrill cry was the _pop_ of the cup’s lid as it connected with Moonbyul’s shoulder, and the _splash_ as she was drenched in 175 degree milk and espresso.

Hyejin was over the counter in an instant, grabbing at the customer’s shirt. “That’s assault, my friend! I dare you to say all of that again before the cops get here, then we can call it a hate crime, too!”

“Get off me you b*tch!”

Hyejin pulled him down to her eye level with a vice-like grip on his blazer. “ _Go on. Give me a reason._ ”

“Let him go,” Yongsun said sternly from behind the bar, already on the phone. Hyejin released him with a forceful push, though she continued to give him a leveling glare.

“Wheein.”

Wheein popped her head up from where she had been helping Moonbyul towel off. She gave the blue-haired barista’s shoulder a squeeze and stepped over to Yongsun.

“See if you can get his license plate number,” she growled, though Wheein could see that her hands were shaking.

The man stormed out of the store, not quite so mouthy with Yongsun on the phone with the police and Hyejin cracking her knuckles. Wheein watched obediently and memorized which car he got into and the plate number before he drove off.

The rest of the afternoon was spent giving statements to the police, and playing phone tag with Heechul, as if their daily shifts in the store weren’t already packed with enough activity.

“The _one time_ I get invited to go to the Cape,” he was saying to Yongsun over the phone.

“I know, I’m sorry,” she said, emotionally exhausted. “We’re trying to handle it, really. You don’t have to come back.”

“It’s not exactly the season, and besides, I can tell you’re shaken up from all the way over here.” Heechul’s rare compassionate tone nearly brought Yongsun to tears. “I’ll be there in a few hours if you want to stick around until I get back.”

“Okay, I’ll wait,” she said quietly, watching Moonbyul sitting at the desk, tenderly touching her brow where she had been scalded.

“How is Moonbyul?” Heechul asked.

“She’s quiet.” Moonbyul’s gaze flicked over to Yongsun, sensing they were talking about her.

“Alright. Well, why don’t you stay on the clock, then, and keep her company,” he suggested.

Yongsun had already been planning on doing that very thing, but she felt comforted knowing it was being sanctioned. “Alright.”

“You did good, today. I’ll see you guys in a bit,” he finished.

Yongsun hung up, feeling a little better after such a nerve-wracking day. She walked over to Moonbyul and took her hands away from her face. “Stop touching it.”

Moonbyul looked up at her sullenly. “It hurts.”

“I know, but the oils from your hands will make it worse.”

Leave it to ex-camp counselor Yongsun to know how to treat a burn, Moonbyul thought. Yongsun went to the first aid kit and retrieved the burn gel. She knelt in front of Moonbyul and began delicately applying it to the more obviously injured parts of her face.

“Anywhere else?” she asked as she examined Moonbyul’s face. “...Byuli?”

“U-uh, here, I can do it,” the blue-haired barista stammered, standing suddenly and taking the gel over to the mirror above the back room’s handsink. Yongsun watched her silently. The burns weren’t bad, thankfully, but Yongsun suspected there was more to Moonbyul’s pain than just being scalded.

“Are you okay?”

“My face is numb, now,” Moonbyul said, discarding the rest of the gel packet.

Yongsun smirked. “That means it’s working.”

“Here, poke it.”

“I’m not going to poke it.”

“Come on, just touch it, I can’t feel it!”

“I’m not touching anything, get away from me!”

Moonbyul chased her around the back room, and Yongsun screamed, smacking at her until she retreated.

Wheein stuck her head in the doorway. “Do I need to call the police again?”

“Wheein! Come here and poke my cheek!”

Wheein raised an eyebrow and looked between them. “I… should go check on Hyejin. I’ll clock out on the register…” She ducked back into the cafe to leave the two older baristas to their antics. She was secretly very pleased to see that they were already back to themselves, even if they were being gross.

It only took an hour for Moonbyul to get bored of waiting around for Heechul. She shuffled up to Yongsun with a pout.

“I’m injured. Take me to dinner.”

Yongsun squinted up at her incredulously. She pulled out the earbuds she had been wearing. “Who do I look like, your mother?”

Moonbyul whined and stomped her foot.

Yongsun made a big show of rolling her eyes and stood up. “Fine, just stop that. What do you want?”

“If we go to the grocer next door can I pick out whatever I want?”

“What are you, 8?”

“Don’t tease me, I’m injured.”

Yongsun closed her eyes and counted to ten. “No booze.”

“No booze,” Moonbyul promised with a sly grin. She took Yongsun by the wrist and led her out of the store. Hyejin and the incoming night crew didn’t even raise their eyes as the two left.

Even though she was being pulled roughly into the parking lot, Yongsun couldn’t help a small smile. It was hard to show it when Moonbyul was being so annoying, but she really had been worried about the girl being attacked for making a drink incorrectly.

It wasn’t uncommon to receive varying degrees of verbal abuse from customers suffering from caffeine withdrawal, but this had been the first incident in her recollection where a customer had actually physically attacked a barista. And for it to be someone on _her_ team was frankly unacceptable. She had almost allowed Hyejin to have her way with the man. Hell, she had almost joined her, but Yongsun knew that she’d have just gotten the two of them fired if she hadn’t called the girl off.

She hoped the police would actually do their jobs, though she knew a minor assault charge wouldn’t warrant enough punishment to wipe away the embarrassment of being treated like an animal.

Moonbyul walked quickly across the parking lot from their store to the gourmet grocer. Yongsun groaned internally, hoping Moonbyul would stick to the deli and not get anything too far outside the paycheck of a floor manager.

“No truffle oil.”

“I can’t hear you over the pain of my burning skin.”

“NO TRUFFLE OIL.” Yongsun iterated loudly, not buying into the blue-haired barista’s act.

Moonbyul winced as she snickered, rubbing her ear. “Okay, okay. I just want some chicken.”

She led them into the store and straight to the deli. Clearly she had done this before, as she picked up a to-go box and began filling it with various items: pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes - “they’re garlic!” - collard greens, a breadstick. She turned to Yongsun.

“Do you want to share or will you make your own?”

The pink-haired barista shook her head. “I’ll just share,” she said. “After all, I’m paying for it.”

Moonbyul gave her another sly smile and threw on an extra piece of chicken. “Okay, drinks!”

“No beer.”

“I know!” There’d be plenty of time for that after Heechul checked up on them and let them leave.

They grabbed some cans of coke and paid. As they were leaving the store, Moonbyul grabbed Yongsun’s arm, almost making her drop her soda.

“We didn’t get anything for Hyejin.”

“I’m not buying dinner for everyone!”

Moonbyul laughed. “You’re right, _I’m_ the one who owes her for sticking up for me like that.”

Yongsun frowned. Moonbyul didn’t owe anyone anything. “We’re a team. It’s what we do.”

Moonbyul gave her a sideways glance. “Oh? It’s because we’re a team?”

Yongsun colored slightly. “Of course. Why else?” She was getting the feeling Moonbyul wasn’t talking about Hyejin anymore.

Moonbyul stayed silent as they reentered their store and headed to the stockroom.

“-Hey I smell chiCKEN!” Hyejin called after them accusingly. The door to the back room swung shut in their wake.

Even while eating Moonbyul seemed to have boundless energy to annoy Yongsun, but the pink-haired barista kept trying to find a moment to have a serious conversation with the girl.

“No, I’m full,” she protested as Moonbyul waved the breadstick in her face.

“Just a bite?”

“Nooooooo!” she gesticulated, almost knocking the breadstick out of her hand.

“Fine,” Moonbyul said putting it back in the box and closing it up. “Thanks for dinner, by the way.”

Yongsun shoved her. “Stop. I only did it because I felt sorry for you.”

Moonbyul smirked, but said nothing.

Yongsun took the intervening moment of silence as her cue. “How are you feeling?”

Moonbyul shrugged with a small frown, then she willed herself into a cheeky expression. “My face isn’t numb anymore, but I’m fine.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Yongsun intoned, not letting the blue-haired barista get away that easily.

Moonbyul let the act drop. “I’m alright. I think my pride is hurt more than my face.”

Yongsun nodded, having suspected as much. “You didn’t make the drink wrong.”

“I _know_ I didn’t make the drink wrong,” Moonbyul spat, suddenly - finally - feeling the rage at what happened. “It was marked wrong!”

Yongsun nodded again and put a hand on her shoulder placatingly. “It’s no one’s fault. It’s such an easy thing to fix. You can’t help what kind of mood someone’s going to walk into the store with.”

Moonbyul clicked her tongue. “A violent mood? I’d hate to think how many of our other customers walk into our store a latte short of scalding me.”

Yongsun sighed resignedly. “It comes with the business. All we can do is hope he gets a misdemeanor that he’ll have to explain on every job application for the rest of his life.”

Moonbyul had to admit there was some small satisfaction in that, but she still had to go back into the cafe tomorrow and face all those customers again who saw her get doused. She thanked whatever beverage god watched over them that she hadn’t cried. Yongsun took her hand and gave it a squeeze, seeing the stormy look on her face.

“How’s the invalid?” Heechul asked as he peeked his head through the door. He had a grocery bag in either hand as he came into the back room.

Yongsun dropped Moonbyul’s hand and they scooted a little ways apart.

Heechul rolled his eyes. “Oh, please, you guys. As if I didn’t already know.” He set the bags on the desk and started rummaging through them. When he heard silence, he turned around and saw them both staring at him in wide-eyed confusion. “What?”

“Already know?”

“Already know what?” they asked nearly in unison.

Heechul blinked at them. “Already know that… you know. About you two. I’ve known for _years_ ,” he explained, as he turned back around.

Yongsun sputtered, “What about us?” She looked at Moonbyul with mild alarm.

Heechul paused again and looked at them. “You’re a thing, right? An item?”

Blank stares.

“... You’re dating.”

“ _WHAT?!_ ” Yongsun practically shrieked as Moonbyul turned a shade of red brighter than when she had been soaked in cappuccino.

Heechul covered his ears. “What do you mean what? Are you both really going to sit there and tell me you’re not dating?”

Yongsun squinted up at him like he was speaking another language.

“Look!” Heechul gestured at them both. “You even dyed your hair matching colors!” He didn’t bother to point out how dying one’s hair an unnatural shade was against company policy.

Moonbyul tugged at her ponytail. “But mine’s blue?”

“And I’m pink,” Yongsun added, pointing at herself.

Heechul’s eyes were shaking. “And together they make violet. They match; they’re triadic! ... Never mind. It's a thing, trust me.”

The girls looked at each other with differing expressions: Yongsun with a note of wonder, and Moonbyul with a small, knowing smile.

“Listen, what I’m saying is _IT’S FINE_.”

“But we’re not-”

Heechul held up a finger demanding silence. “It’s fine because I’ve been thinking, Yongsun.”

She fell silent at being addressed directly.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while, and talking to the other managers. The way you acted today confirms how I’ve been feeling. If you want it, I’m going to recommend you for the store manager training program.”

Yongsun jumped out of her seat and clapped her hands. “Really? When?” She started doing a little dance.

Moonbyul was delayed in scrambling up to join her. “You did it! Store Manager Yongsun!”

They joined hands and jumped up and down chanting “Store Manager Yongsun!” together while Heechul seriously reconsidered what he had just said.

“Okay, okay. _OKAY!_ ” he raised his voice to get them to calm down. “Don’t make me regret this. You’re going to go to the Drivethru store for your training. I’m not sure what store they’ll put you in after that.”

“Do they need a barista?” Moonbyul asked, waggling her eyebrows before wincing in pain.

“Not a chance. With Yongsun gone, I’ll need a new floor manager to replace her,” he said with a pointed look. “Besides, with whatever… this is,” he said gesturing between them, “it’s better if you two don’t work in the same store.”

The two girls looked at each other in muted shyness. Whatever this is, indeed.

Heechul clapped his hands startling them both. “Okay, well now that I’ve said what I wanted to say, I brought snacks for my good girls.” He turned back around to his bags and started fishing out the treats he had bought.

“Snacks?” Hyejin asked from the doorway. The other members of the night crew were gathered behind her.

Heechul rolled his eyes again. “Yes, snacks, come on and help yourselves,” he muttered as he walked into the cafe to cover for them. He watched them through the stockroom door window for a moment, seeing Yongsun with her arm around Moonbyul’s shoulders while the latter had her arm around the former’s waist. They were excitedly talking to their other team members, presumably telling them the news.

He shook his head and idly walked over to the espresso machine. He deftly snatched a demitasse from the rack their ceramic cups were kept on and drew a couple of espresso shots. He leaned back against the counter as he brought the tiny cup up to his nose to smell the acrid aroma. This job wasn’t for everyone, and truly there were few people who applied for it knowing what they were in store for. But it was always satisfying to see his crew treat this place like a home and watch them take care of each other.

It was nice to know that every once in awhile he seemed to get it right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((a/n this was an original intermission as rushed to complete the next real chapter -Haro))


	12. Pairing

There was no avoiding Wendy when Joy came home from her evening shift. The waifish girl was sitting in the living room where she had been ‘living’ for the past couple weeks, curled up on the couch with a blanket over her lap.

Joy took a deep breath. Wendy looked up at her with an expression that Joy felt more acutely than if Wendy had been outright angry with her. It was disappointment.

“Wendy, I-”

“Did you want to sit?” she asked quietly, reaching over to grab one of the throw pillows to make a space on the couch.

Joy swallowed. She had _really_ made a mess of things, but she also had the least to lose from the situation she had created. That didn’t stop her from feeling guilty about throwing Wendy under the bus just for the sake of some gossip, however.

She mutely came to sit next to Wendy. Wendy hugged the pillow to her chest and rested her chin on it.

After a moment, Joy tried again. “I’m really sorry, Wendy.”

Wendy sighed. “Joy, it’s okay. I’m not mad.”

Joy turned to her with wide eyes. “Not mad? How can you not be mad? I’d be furious…” she asked incredulously.

Wendy wore a small, wry smile. She glanced over at Joy. “Joy. You took me in. That mess with my scholarships and losing my apartment… You could have said no, but you helped me.”

Joy scoffed and looked away. A couch in the cramped living room of Joy’s studio apartment was hardly worthy of praise. And she especially didn’t want any credit after embarrassing the girl in front of the whole store. “Please. It’s literally the least I could do,” she dismissed.

Wendy’s small smile grew. “It’s not. What I’m saying is how could I be mad at you after that? I… I know it was just a mistake.” Joy may be mouthy and anti-establishment on the surface, but Wendy was becoming convinced the girl hardly had a mean bone in her body.

“Stop being so Canadian! You’re still allowed to get mad.” Having all of the good things Joy had done for Wendy pointed out to her was somehow making her feel even worse than before. Wendy would make a great mother someday.  

“Really, Joy, I’ve got bigger fish to fry, now. After all, you _did_ tell Seulgi that I drunkenly spilled her darkest secrets to you.” If anyone needed to start practicing her apology, it was Wendy.

“See? It’s my fault! If Yeri hadn’t egged me on about the whole Irene thing-” Joy gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Wow, you’re really bad at this, aren’t you?”

Joy groaned into her hands.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask. But do me a favor and go easy on yourself, okay? I’m walking on enough eggshells at work these days, I don’t want to have to be like that around you, too,” Wendy said, scooting closer and putting an arm around Joy’s shoulders.

Joy peeked up at her through her fingers. “So you forgive me?”

Wendy pretended to think about it for a moment. “Hmm, I think a week without me making your lunches will serve you right.”

+++

 

“Why are you here?” Yeri asked as she saw Wendy come up to the bar. It was rare for off-duty baristas to voluntarily come into the store, and Wendy clearly wasn’t dressed for work, so she wasn’t here to cover a shift. She was wearing her “civvies” as they were wont to call them: her street clothes. A backwards baseball cap over her long, wavy hair, a sweater with her college’s logo plastered on the front, and a pair of ripped jeans completed her look. Yeri wasn’t sure what the look _was_ , but she supposed it somehow suited Wendy’s style.  

Gunhee came up behind Yeri and peeked at Wendy from over the blonde’s head. “More importantly, what’s in the box?” he wondered.

“Is Irene here?” Wendy asked, ignoring their questions.

Yeri’s eyes narrowed as she glanced between Wendy and the box she was holding. “Yeah… she’s in the back, why?”

Wendy ignored her again and walked around the bar, making her way towards the back room.

“Is it doughnuts?” Gunhee asked, following her.

Now that Yeri thought about it, it did look like some sort of pastry box.

Wendy held it up away from Gunhee defensively. “It’s not for you, it’s for Irene!” was all she said as she nudged the stockroom door open with her foot and scooted inside.

The door swung shut in the two baristas’ faces and they exchanged a curious look.

As Yeri had mentioned, there sat Irene at the desk, her forehead in her hand as she irritatedly tapped her pen against some papers that were spread out in front of her. Wendy heard her grumble something as she collected all the pages and stuffed them in a drawer. She stood up and turned suddenly, and they both startled.

“Oh-!”

“Wendy?”

Wendy swallowed. Irene still seemed very frustrated, but her gaze softened the longer she regarded the barista. “I-Irene, I uh… here!” Wendy nervously walked over to the desk and offered Irene the box. So far, this wasn’t exactly going to plan, but there was no backing down now.

Irene blinked rapidly and took the proffered box. She gave Wendy a brief, suspicious look before slowly opening the lid.

“... A cake?”

Wendy beamed at her, unable to help being a little proud at how well it had turned out, even in the face of Irene’s withering gaze.

“Yeah, I thought I’d… I made it for you,” Wendy said, verbally stumbling over her tangling thoughts.

Irene looked at her in surprise. “For me? But why?” Irene briefly looked away in thought. Was it her birthday? No, that was last month. She shook her head and regarded Wendy again. “I mean, thank you, Wendy.”

Wendy smiled at her shyly. So far so good. “It’s… an apology,” she began hesitatingly. “I feel like we didn’t quite get off to a good start, and… and I feel like I’ve only been making things worse since then.”

Irene carefully considered Wendy’s concern. It was true; there hadn’t been a lot of opportunity for them to interact together one-on-one, but Irene felt like she had still been able to piece Wendy together through watching her work. Irene knew you could tell a lot about a person by seeing them operate under stressful situations, and Wendy’s positive attitude and integrity had held up even better than the more veteran baristas at this store. Irene had come away with a good impression of the girl, even if she was a little clumsy.

But there was that one dark cloud that hung over Irene’s thoughts about the barista now whenever Wendy came up: Joy’s text.

Still, Irene grinned at her, catching Wendy entirely off guard. She was almost more worried now than when Irene had been glaring at her. “Wendy, you don’t have anything to apologize for. If you’ve been feeling like this lately, then maybe I’m the one who should apologize.”

Wendy’s face screwed up in confusion.

Irene gave a short laugh and looked away. “You saw us, didn’t you?”

Wendy swallowed, hard. “I…” This was part of the reason she felt compelled to have a talk with Irene before any more incidents could pile up.

Irene took her near-lack of response as an affirmative. She nodded, a faint, wry grin on her face. “Why don’t we step outside and talk for a bit?”

Irene put the box on the desk and walked over to the back door. Wendy followed obediently, feeling apprehensive about what Irene might have to say. The manager swung the door open, the “DO NOT OPEN, ALARM WILL SOUND” sign still plastered on it uselessly, and motioned for Wendy to exit first. Irene took a small box and wedged it in the door jam so they wouldn’t be locked out.

Wendy shut her eyes as the sunlight hit her face. Spring was easily her favorite season, and it came a lot faster here than it did up in Toronto. She turned and savored the warmth on her back as she waited on Irene.

“I don’t really know what to say about what you saw,” Irene began immediately, raising a hand to her brow to shield her face from the bright light. “It was exactly what it probably looked like.” Irene sat on the curb, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her arms on top of them.

Wendy shifted her weight in embarrassment, but didn’t volunteer her thoughts about what she had witnessed. She sat next to Irene with her legs splayed out in front of her.   

“It was unprofessional, and it won’t happen again,” Irene said soberly.

Wendy looked over at her in shock. “What? Why?”

Irene raised a brow curiously. Wendy glanced away quickly. “S-sorry, it’s none of my business.”

“Why do you seem so surprised?” Irene asked slowly, despite her better judgement.

A mortified expression overtook Wendy’s features at being asked. “I guess I’m not actually surprised - I know you could lose your job.” It wasn’t a threat, Wendy was simply acknowledging the fear she had had since she realized Irene was going to be their boss.

Irene nodded slowly. She felt like Wendy was dancing around something, and her curiosity was getting the better of her. Wendy seemed like a terrible liar. “There’s more,” Irene stated, rather than asked.

Wendy winced.

+++

 

“Oh thank god you’re here,” Yeri said, leaning over the counter dramatically and grabbing at Seulgi as she passed on her way to the back room. “I was beginning to think this day was never going to end!” Seulgi was Yeri’s relief today, though Seulgi herself was anything but relieved, knowing that she was closing with Eunae tonight.

And Seulgi wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Yeri either. She didn’t have the heart to shrug the young girl off, though. “Let me just put my stuff down then I’ll come on so you can go,” she said in a flat voice.

Yeri instantly dropped the playful act. “Hey, Seul,” she started, with a grip on Seulgi’s shirt. Seulgi halted. Gunhee made himself scarce.

Seulgi sighed. “What’s up?”

“I feel bad,” Yeri admitted. “It’s my fault Joy messed everything up. I just got a little carried away about you and Irene, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Me and-?” Seulgi finally turned to face the young barista. Joy had clearly been talking about Seulgi and Eunae, so what…?

“I see the way you look at each other,” Yeri persisted stubbornly. She had never been afraid of Seulgi, having worked with her too closely over the years to be intimidated by the ‘Legendary Barista’s’ serious exterior. She knew better.

“We don’t… She looks at me?” Seulgi asked, suddenly feeling a little shy.

Yeri stared at her. “Gunhee saw you two _kissing_ and you’re acting like she’s some unobtainable crush?”

Out in the cafe they heard a clatter as Gunhee knocked a bunch of merchandise off a shelf he had been dusting. He slowly stooped to pick everything up, pointedly not looking up at either of them. His face was bright red.

“We weren’t kissing!” Yes they were.

Yeri rolled her eyes at Seulgi’s bold-faced lie. “Adults are weird.”

“You’re 18.”

Yeri ignored her. “Anyway, if you’re going to make your move, you’d better do it quick. Wendy’s got a leg up on you,” she teased, though there was a note of weariness in her voice beyond her years. It seems Yeri wasn’t sorry she had been gossiping about Seulgi. Only sorry she had been caught.

Seulgi gave a faint, wry grin at how cheeky she was, but it faded quickly. “What do you mean a leg up?” All’s fair in love and war, but Seulgi still wanted to know what Yeri’s insider information was.

“Wendy brought her a cake.”

“A _cake_?!” Seulgi groaned. She was done for. She may as well give up now. There was no beating Wendy’s baked goods.

Yeri snickered at the obviously distraught Seulgi. “Well she’s also dressed like a 12-year old boy today, so maybe you still have a chance after all~”

“Wait, she’s here now?” Seulgi peeked through the stockroom door’s window but didn’t see them. She did notice the cake box on the desk, however.

Yeri gave her a push and Seulgi stumbled into the back room. She composed herself as she heard the door slowly swing to a close behind her. She wasn’t exactly sure what her plan was, though she was fairly certain she could guess what Yeri was hoping would happen.

This wasn’t one of the blonde’s novels, however. These were real adults with real feelings, and to be honest, after everything that had happened lately, Seulgi was beginning to doubt her ability to make someone else happy.

Seeing Eunae again had brought all of those insecurities crashing back. She had made great strides towards regaining her confidence and her inner peace after the girl had suddenly left her, but now that she was back, Seulgi meditated on those old fears anew. Wouldn’t Eunae have stayed if she had been good enough? If she had made her happy enough?

She was putting Irene at great risk because of her selfishness, but would she be able to follow through? Would Irene find her worth it? Would Irene give up on them, too?

Them.

There was no them.

Seulgi walked over to the desk and opened the box. She rolled her eyes. The cake looked perfect, of course; not professional, but it had that homey touch that went straight to the heart. A crack of light caught her eye and she realized the back door was slightly ajar. A quick glance around the room told her no one was taking the trash out, and it had been years since they had had a barista who smoked, so who…?

Seulgi crept towards the door, staying out of sight.

“I’m just worried because I feel like this is all my fault,” she heard Wendy saying. “Do... do you remember when you first came in the store? Before you started working here?”

Irene had a suspicion she knew where this was going. She played along so that Wendy would continue. “Vaguely,” she replied, though her intense gaze was undoubtedly giving her away.

Wendy took a shuddering breath. “Your order… the cup. It was me.”

Irene’s eyebrows twitched in shock and she dropped her ignorant act. “ _What_?” she asked breathlessly.

“I wrote Seulgi’s number on your cup,” Wendy admitted with a small groan.

“But… but _why_?!”

Why, indeed. Wendy had made quite a mess of things. More than Joy, more than Yeri… Wendy spared a brief glance up at the sky, some choice words coming to mind for their collective beverage god or whoever else was listening.

She shrugged. “The whole time you were in the store, she couldn’t keep her eyes off you. I’d never seen her make so many mistakes before.” She gave a short, quiet laugh at the memory. “That was before I knew about Eunae, though.”

Irene said nothing, her expression dark as she listened.

Wendy turned to her. “But she told me she’s not in love with her anymore! They’ve been broken up for quite a while. Eunae even moved across the country…!”

Seulgi couldn’t listen anymore. It was too much to hear how hard Wendy was working for her sake. And what had Seulgi done for the girl in return? She’d just been jealous. She’d just hoped that Irene wouldn’t see everything everyone else saw in Wendy, and that she’d stand a chance.

She went and sat down at the desk and laid her head on her arms, biting back a long, bemused groan.

“-what do you mean there’s cake? What are we…” Eunae’s voiced died out as she came in the back room and saw Seulgi sitting in a forlorn position at the desk. “...celebrating?”


	13. Sunrise

Eunae and Seulgi stared at each other. Seulgi realized the girl was probably unaware that everyone in the store knew about their past, and felt a little guilty. It was one thing to have her sordid history displayed for all of her coworkers to see and dissect, but it was another thing entirely for Eunae to be subjected to such scruitiny.

She could see Eunae was still the shy, quiet girl she had meet all those years ago, when she had been dragged to an open mic night at a cafe between their schools. She remembered sitting there at the table, having successfully resisted all attempts by her friends to get up on the stage and sing.

 

_“Don’t make her go; look, this place is full of conservatory students,” her friend advocated._

_“Yeah, you’re right. Oh, missed your chance anyway. One of them’s already getting set up,” another pointed out._

_Seulgi was relieved to see a girl walk onto the stage, amid applause from a large group of music school students over at the other end of the cafe. The girl was taller than Seulgi, though she supposed that wasn’t terribly impressive, and strikingly pretty._

_She seemed rather shy as she meekly moved about the stage with a tight-lipped smile and flushed cheeks. She sat on the stool provided and adjusted the mic so she wouldn’t have to stoop to reach it. She pulled something out of her pocket - a cellphone? No, a little black box of some sort and she pressed a button. Seulgi could hear a faint, paced ticking noise. A metronome?_

_The girl turned it up and the cafe quieted. She began._

_And oh, wow._

_The last thing Seulgi had expected was that this girl was going to start rapping. As soon as the first line left her mouth, she had transformed into a powerful, confident figure. Each stanza was evocative and broody, delivered in a low, biting tone perfectly suited to the lyrics - Seulgi was transfixed, and her friends noticed._

 

Goading from her friends, a shy conversation, and a long walk along the Fens between their schools had set them on the path towards a relationship, and more importantly, a friendship that Seulgi realized she missed quite a bit. She gave Eunae a small smile.

“Hey.”

Eunae timidly returned her smile. “Hey.”

“Are you ready for tonight?”

“I think so. It’s you and me, right?” Eunae asked, almost stumbling over ‘ _you and me_ ’.

Seulgi tried her best to help smooth over any awkwardness. “Yup. So, how long have you been a barista for?” she asked, plowing ahead. “You seem pretty comfortable with everything.”

Eunae shook her head and made a small dismissive gesture. “Oh, no, I’m not great at it. I… I started once my internship ended, so just a few months ago.”

Seulgi was a little relieved; Eunae had basically just answered a lot of questions she hadn’t been sure how to ask. They were doing pretty alright for their first real conversation in almost two years. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be as difficult as she first supposed.

Any continuance of their conversation, however, would have to wait, as Irene and Wendy reentered the back room.

What a group they made:

Irene was already wearing a small frown, and it deepened when she noticed Seulgi sitting at the desk.

Wendy was immediately nervous, seeing that Seulgi had clearly been back here for a while, and wondering if Eunae knew about Joy’s disastrous text.

Eunae smiled, pleasantly surprised to see Wendy, and completely oblivious to any tension from Irene.

Seulgi poked at the cake box, unable to meet anyone’s gaze.

Before they could sink into an awkward silence, however, Eunae suddenly pointed at Wendy’s sweater.

“Berklee!”

Wendy blinked at her and then tugged at her sweater so she could see which one she was wearing. “Oh, oh yeah.” She suddenly remembered Seulgi saying Eunae had also gone to her school.

“Did you go there?” Eunae asked with a surprised smile.

Wendy laughed a little. It seems Eunae had no clue about the text. She stole a glance at Seulgi, but Seulgi was watching her with an unreadable expression. “I-I’m still going there. For songwriting,” she shyly answered.

“Really? I went for production!” Eunae offered excitedly. Irene and Seulgi were glancing between the two other girls with increasing curiosity.

Irene cleared her throat and Eunae seemed to suddenly remember there were two other people in the room, one of whom was her temporary boss, and the other being her ex-girlfriend. She flushed bright red and turned in place. “I-I need to go clock in. I’ll s-see you later…!”  And she scooted off into the cafe.

Irene and Seulgi turned to look at Wendy who was wearing a rather incriminating smile. It fell when she saw herself being stared at. “What?”

“Nothing,” Seulgi said, though she still had that appraising look. Irene remained silent.

“Wait, _no_! It’s not- I’m not…! You know what? I think I should go, too,” Wendy said in a rush, embarrassment coloring her cheeks as well. “Enjoy the cake...!” She followed after Eunae.

Irene glanced at Seulgi, wondering how the ‘Legendary Barista’ was reacting to this interesting development. To her surprise, Seulgi wore a faint smile with her head tilted slightly to one side. After a moment she shook her head and looked over at Irene.

“I should get on the floor, too,” she said, dropping her gaze quickly. She stood, but suddenly Irene came to stand in front of her.

“Seulgi, wait.”

Seulgi looked at her questioningly. From what she was gathering from Irene’s expression, it wasn’t going to be good.

“I need your help on something.”

Seulgi put her apron back on the desk and waited for more. Irene came up to her and knelt. She wordlessly tapped Seulgi’s knee until the barista scooted a bit so Irene could access the desk drawers. Standing with a stack of papers she had retrieved, she realized how little Seulgi had actually moved.

Seulgi wasn’t purposefully trying to make things hard on Irene, but she was doing a good job of it anyway. With scant inches between them, Irene was assaulted by the memory of their kiss: how Seulgi’s lips had felt against hers, that idiotic confidence with which Seulgi had held her...

She smacked Seulgi’s arm with the papers to clear her thoughts.

“Ah-! What the…?” Seulgi cried, wincing at Irene’s sudden aggression.

“I just don’t want you getting any ideas,” she said gruffly, with one last look at Seulgi’s lips before she turned away to spread the papers out on the desk.

Seulgi put a hand on her arm where she had been hit, wondering which one of them exactly had been _getting ideas_.

“So, then what did you want my help with?” she said, steering the subject back on course.

Irene didn’t look up at her. “The Drivethru store is down two people,” she explained. “Heechul and I decided to each give them a barista, and I wanted your advice on who we should consider.”

“Isn’t he already lending them someone?” Seulgi asked. She looked over Irene’s shoulder and saw carbon paper forms she suddenly recognized mixed in with employee evaluations.

“A transfer, Seulgi. This would be permanent.”

+++

 

Wendy saw Eunae already down by the bar, making drinks. She found herself lingering as she passed, watching her work. What had Irene and Seulgi been thinking? _Oh, god_ , she thought. Just what _had_ Seulgi been thinking? She had come here to clean up a mess, not create another one.

Eunae suddenly turned around to hand off a finished drink and almost dropped it as she noticed Wendy there staring at her.

“Oh-!”

“Careful-!” Wendy reached out and grabbed the drink which had almost slipped out of Eunae’s grip.

The taller barista gave a small, embarrassed laugh. “Thanks. Caramel macchiato?” she called around Wendy out to the cafe. A teenaged girl came up and grabbed the drink with a toneless ‘thanks’ and left. Wendy was about to leave as well when Eunae called her back.

“Wait! Did you want something?” she asked eagerly.

Wendy smiled brightly. “Sure.” How could she say no? She was about to tell the girl her order when Eunae held up a finger.

“Nope, sorry, I don’t do requests,” she said playfully before turning back around.

Wendy stood on her tiptoes and tried to watch what Eunae was making, curious about what kind of drink she’d end up with.

After another moment, Eunae came back with a medium-sized iced drink that didn’t look like anything Wendy recognized off their menu. The base of the drink was yellow with a tinge of green… lemonade and green tea? But there was two-inch layer of something pink on top that Wendy wasn’t sure about. Could it be passion tea?

“Tell me what you think.”

Wendy eyed her suspiciously and took a sip. There was _definitely_ some lemonade in this. She took another long sip and then held the cup up so she could get a better look at it. The pink layer on top was beginning to bleed through the ice and mix with the rest of the drink.

“Wow this is great, what is it?” Wendy asked in surprise.

“It’s a ‘B.K. Sunrise’,” Eunae said a little proudly.

Now that Eunae had introduced the idea of it being a ‘sunrise’, Wendy thought the drink was rather aptly named. She bet it would taste great with some tequila.

“What’s the ‘B.K.’ stand for,” she asked. It definitely wasn’t something on the menu.

Eunae shrugged. “Moonbyul taught me how to make it a few days ago. She said it stood for ‘ByulKong’ or something like that.” She hadn’t questioned it.

“You’ll have to tell me what’s in it,” Wendy said, turning the cup around and indicating the row of customization boxes along one side. She handed it back to Eunae. “Write it out,” she instructed.

Eunae gave Wendy a curious look for a moment, a faint smile still playing on her lips. She slowly took the cup and got a pen out of her apron pocket and began writing. After she was finished, she surprised Wendy by slipping a sleeve onto the cup before handing it back to her.

“What-”

“Don’t look at it until after you’ve left,” Eunae said mysteriously. “The recipe’s a secret~”

And with that she turned away and went back to work, leaving Wendy all alone at the handoff station.

With one last suspicious look at the borrowed barista, Wendy walked out of the store and towards her car.

Unable to stave off her curiosity she slipped the sleeve off the cup to get a look at the recipe. She was certain it was a green tea with lemonade, but what was the pink on top? Surely not raspberry syrup…

But there was no recipe written beneath the sleeve, to her surprise.

Just a phone number.


	14. Buy One, Get One

“What time is Seulgi on again?” Gunhee asked, his voice carrying a nervous pitch as he eyed the clock on the register’s screen.

Irene’s eyebrow twitched. She knew it was the barista’s first time dealing with this sale, and she knew everyone in the store had been doing their best to rehash every horror story from sales past to freak him out. And she _knew_ none of those stories had been exaggerations, based on her own experiences.

But that didn’t mean they needed Seulgi! Irene was a formidable barista in her own right. She realized how little her crew had been able to witness this, however, since she was often stuck in the back room, left to pour over reports and audits and charitable pet projects left to her by Kyuhyun. She had to put all of that aside, however for the next three hours, because it was going to be ‘all hands on deck’.

“We’ll be fine. She’ll be here before it starts,” Irene said, masking her irritation with a veneer of bossiness. “Gunhee, you’ll make extra whipped creams, Wendy will restock the undercounter fridges, Joy can hide extra syrups over there by the cups in case we need them…”

Her crew obediently scurried about, preparing for the three hours of hell they were about to endure. She didn’t have the heart to remind them that this was only the first day of the ten-day sale.

“Where’s Eunae?” Irene asked, looking around. She heard a muffled _thwack_ as Wendy knocked her head against the top of the undercounter fridge she had been stocking. Irene burst out laughing.

Everyone paused and turned.

Irene blinked at them. “I’m sorry, didn’t I give you all jobs to do?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. The activity immediately resumed and she left the floor to go look for the borrowed barista. She found Eunae sitting at the desk in the stockroom, which reminded her she had sent the girl on break a little while ago.

Eunae had her earbuds in, listening to something while she used a pen to tap out a rhythm on a piece of scratch paper in front of her. As Irene walked up to her, she could hear the barista mumbling to herself. Irene quieted her steps and crept closer. She could see lines written on the paper, some crossed out, some with additions in the margins. Lyrics? She remembered Eunae mentioning that she had gone to school for production, but did she compose, too?

After witnessing that rather telling interaction between Wendy and Eunae, Irene no longer considered the latter a threat, even though, she supposed with a haughty frown, there wasn’t anything to actually threaten. She had rejected Seulgi pretty firmly, at least in her opinion, and was strengthening her resolve against any further advances from the ‘Legendary Barista’.

But every time their shifts had overlapped the past few days, she couldn’t help taking note of everything Seulgi did: where she was, who she was speaking with, what kind of look she was giving them, if she seemed pensive, or bubbly, or frustrated, or content. She wished she hadn’t put that wall between them. She wished she could do more than just watch.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of Eunae scrunching up her page into a ball and chucking it into an empty box in the recycling pile. She sighed loudly and slumped in the desk chair, letting her head hang over the back. When she saw Irene she quickly sat up, painfully straining her neck.

“Ah-!”

Irene gave her a small smile, then calmly walked over to the box to retrieve the paper Eunae had discarded.

“That’s…” Eunae began weakly, simultaneously frustrated with her work and embarrassed at the thought of Irene reading it.

“You write?” Irene asked quietly, carefully unfolding the paper and smoothing out the wrinkles between the palms of her hands.

Eunae nodded shyly. As Irene walked back over to the desk Eunae tried to grab the page, but Irene turned out of her reach and took a breath as if she was going to begin reading.

“Don’t-!!” Eunae said scrambling out of the chair to make another attempt for the paper. Irene danced away from her, waving it out of her reach with a playful smirk. Eunae could have easily picked Irene up and taken it if she had wanted, but despite the manager’s tiny size, Irene’s presence was too imposing. Instead Eunae settled on trying her best to reach around Irene, her long arms almost closing the distance, despite Eunae’s best attempts to not invade her personal space.

Seulgi cleared her throat, causing the two girls to freeze.

Irene straightened up suddenly, almost knocking Eunae in the chin with the top of her head, and stuffed the paper in her apron pocket. Eunae gave an embarrassed laugh under Seulgi's bemused gaze, and excused herself.

“I think my break is over,” she claimed as she left with a small wave.

Seulgi leaned up against the dish machine with her arms crossed, waiting until she was gone. It was incredibly strange to see her boss and ex-girlfriend getting along so well, but she supposed the situation could be much worse. “Having fun?”

Irene scoffed. “Jeal…?” but the taunt died on her lips as she realized what she had been about to say. She walked over to the sink to load some dishes onto a rack for sanitizing, buying herself some time. What’s gotten into her? She’s usually more careful with the things she says.

Had Irene almost asked her if she was jealous? Seulgi stood there, confused. Who had rejected whom? Just what was this push-and-pull game Irene was trying to play? Seulgi opened the dish machine and pulled out a rack of dishes, making room for the one Irene was loading up.

Irene gave her a sideways glance. “Are you clocked in?” she asked neutrally.

“Not yet,” Seulgi responded as she began stacking up utensils that needed to go back on the floor. “I’ll take these with me and sign in out there.”

Irene said nothing as she leaned against the sink waiting for Seulgi to leave.  She could hear the crinkle of Eunae’s lyrics in her apron pocket as she shifted her weight.

“... Seulgi!” she called suddenly.

Already halfway to the door, Seulgi looked back at her curiously, arms full of steaming pitchers.

“What kind of art did you study?” Irene asked as she stared across the narrow room at the stock shelves. They held a sorted array of all the different kinds of syrups they offered, each season adding another flavor. It was a kaleidoscope of colors, orange mango, dark red raspberry, golden caramel, cloudy white peppermint.

Seulgi blinked. “Illustration.”

Irene nodded, still not shifting her gaze. Above and below the syrups were cases and containers of other ingredients. Shaved chocolate curls, smokey toasted sea salt, leftover caramel bits from Christmas - they should really get rid of those.

“Drawing?” she asked after a delay.

“That’s right.” Seulgi couldn’t help briefly following her boss’s fixed gaze over to the shelves, but ultimately her eyes returned to Irene. She was standing with her back to the sink, her arms folded behind her back. She wore a faint, odd smile that Seulgi could only begin to guess the meaning of.

“... Do you still draw?”

Seulgi wondered where she had gotten this information, or where her line of questioning was heading, but couldn’t anticipate a reason not to answer.

“Sometimes. I set my spare room up for art,” she explained. She shook her head, her suspicion finally getting the best of her. “How did you know about my art?” Had Wendy told her?

Irene finally glanced over at Seulgi. The truth? “Your resume,” she confessed. Seulgi had applied to the store so long ago, her resume had listed her college graduation date as _anticipated_.

Seulgi should have known. It would have been too good to be true to think Irene might have been interested enough to ask about her.

“But Eunae made me think of it. I saw her back here working on her music, and…” it made her wonder if Seulgi also still worked on her art. Too familiar. “... and I just got curious, I guess.”

Seulgi felt a small smile tug at her lips. Maybe was interested after all. “You should hear her perform some time. I think it would surprise you. She's really well-suited to 'spoken word' and stuff like that.”

Irene squinted at Seulgi, wondering if the ‘Legendary Barista’ remembered that Irene had, in fact, already seen Eunae ‘perform’, though she knew a karaoke stage at a Mexican restaurant’s bar wasn’t quite what she meant.

“You never seem to have a bad thing to say about her.”

“Who, Eunae?”

Irene nodded, watching Seulgi’s features intently. Suddenly Seulgi wished she was still staring into the middle distance.

She shrugged, shifting the pitchers in her arms. “I dated her for a reason.” She knew Eunae’s intentions, that she had never really intended to hurt her. They just weren’t meant to be. “I mean, I _was_ in love with her. It just didn’t work out... It was no one’s fault.”

Irene felt her cheeks color. Who was this girl? She had never heard anyone describe their feelings for an ex in such a way. And suddenly she was envious; she wanted that. She wanted this kind, warm-hearted girl to never have a bad thing to say about her, either. But all she had done so far was give Seulgi every reason to grow frustrated and give up on her.

Seulgi was embarrassed at having said so much. The last person she wanted to hash out her previous relationship with was Irene. She hoped she hadn’t given the wrong impression about her feelings for Eunae. “I… uh, I should get these out there. ‘Happy Hour’ is going to start soon,” she said, mentioning the sale as an excuse to get on the floor.

Irene nodded, but before Seulgi could leave, she called her back yet again. “Seulgi…!”

Seulgi turned once again, giving Irene a wan smile. “Yes, boss?”

Irene furrowed her brows. “Don’t do that. Anyway, have you given any thought to what I asked?”

Seulgi blinked at her.

“Who you think we should transfer to the Drivethru store.”


	15. Tasse Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((a/n 'Affogato' is a somewhat obscure term at my company that basically translates to "put the espresso shot on top" instead of on the bottom of a drink. To explain a really terrible joke that we actually used to tell: affogato kind of sounds like you're saying "I forgot-o". I'm Italian. I can make a joke like that. -Haro))

When Irene finally emerged from the back room after giving herself a minute to breathe, she found the store in the first throes of the sale. All three registers were occupied, Gunhee, Eunae, and Joy marking cups as fast as they could talk, and down at the bar was Yeri making the odd espresso drink while Seulgi was already firmly planted at the cold beverage station. Wendy zipped past her into the back room, already running errands for the rest of the crew as the float. That left Irene to go help her two veterans down on the bar.

She planted herself next to Seulgi at the cold beverage station wordlessly, and the two seasoned baristas naturally fell into the company’s prescribed ‘beverage repeatable routine’. Yeri would sort the cold cups onto their side of the counter, and Irene would begin prepping: coffee, milk, into the blender pitcher, ice, syrups, pass the pitcher to Seulgi. Seulgi would trade her for a dirty pitcher to rinse while she finished the drinks. Blend, pour, then came the myriad toppings: vanilla whip, chocolate whip, _marshmallow whip_ , caramel sauce, _dark_ caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, chocolate curls, crushed cookie powder, cinnamon sugar, toasted salt… every year they added more drinks with unique toppings and a different presentation.

Seulgi was ‘in the zone’. There was no chance for her to feel awkward or broody that Irene was by her side, bumping elbows, reaching around her, unavoidably in her personal space. She barely even had time to glance at the cups themselves, checking each one only briefly enough to see if there were any customizations or deviations from the recipe.

“Affogato,” Seulgi called behind her, asking Yeri to prep an espresso shot. She heard Yeri snicker, but ignored it, far too busy to be curious.

After a moment, Yeri volunteered what had made her laugh. “You know how I remember what ‘affogato’ means?” she asked to the two girls behind her.

Neither of them answered. Seulgi wordlessly handed her the drink that was waiting on the espresso shot. Yeri continued undaunted. “It’s like saying ‘whoops, affogato your espresso! I’m pouring it in now!’,” she laughed as she delicately layered the shot on the blended drink.

Irene snorted quietly next to Seulgi, and the ‘Legendary Barista’ finally spared a glance at her. She was reaching, bending, pivoting, grabbing, and passing; she was like a machine, and Seulgi silently approved. Before Irene had come out onto the floor, Seulgi had instructed the crew who would be stationed where, electing to take the most demanding job for herself, so when Irene had tacitly agreed with her decisions and came to work with her on the bar, Seulgi felt reassured. At least there was one thing they both understood.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to ask for nonfat milk.”

“... That’s no problem! Let me remake that for you!”

“I thought I ordered two of these…”

“Oh… th-the other one will come right out, sorry about that!”

“I didn’t realize this had coffee in it…”

“Did you want me to make you one without coffee…?”

“Oh, no that’s okay, really…”

“Are you sure? It would be no trouble…!”

Bless Wendy. She was currently leaning over the handoff station trying to make sure customers were satisfied with their drinks and interrupting the line of cups with remakes and forgotten orders. Each returned cup increased the stress on the bar, especially as Irene would take a drink out of Seulgi’s hand and replace it with a different one, or have to leave briefly to ask one of the baristas at the register if the customer had in fact paid for it.

“Yeri,” Irene said as she came back from one such interruption. Seulgi could hear how she was out of breath from running around. “Could you please slide in for Gunhee? He’s out.”

Yeri obediently left to push him out of the way and settled herself at the register.

“Wendy? Could you please cover the hot bar?” Wendy gave her a thumbs up. “Eunae? You’re out, too. Thank you,” she called over.

Seulgi waited until Irene was finished giving instructions and lightly put a hand on her back. “You know, you could take a little break if you need; I’ve got this.”

Irene raised an eyebrow up at her. “A break? Me?” she scoffed. “Maybe _you_ need a break,” she retorted childishly, her competitive nature winning out.

Seulgi retracted her hand and returned to the drinks, casting Irene a surprised look while she waited on the blender. There was something in Irene’s tone and expression that reminded Seulgi of something. “ _Me_? I could do this all day,” she boasted. It kind of reminded her of when she’d seen Irene with Heechul...

“Careful,” Irene said rolling her shoulders painfully from all the repeated motion. “We’re barely halfway done.”

Seulgi leaned over and tucked an errant strand of hair behind Irene’s ear. “I’m not the one who’s sweating,” she returned pointedly.

Irene stilled. Was Seulgi… _flirting_ with her? Right here on the floor?! Yeri came to drop off another handful of cups and made a nauseated noise, rolling her eyes as she passed. That more or less answered her question.

“W-Wendy, could you switch with me?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was flustered. Seulgi took Irene’s retreat as a win and wore a pleased look, which only served to make Irene angry. Wendy looked up at Seulgi as she slid in for Irene and gave the ‘Legendary Barista’ a wink.

 _How dare she?_ Irene thought to herself as she gripped the hot bar counter, giving herself a moment to breathe. Did Seulgi have such an easy disregard for both of their jobs? Irene carefully stood on her toes and scanned the sea of customers in the line over the tops of the espresso machines, trying to see if any of them might have noticed. But of course she was probably overreacting. Maybe. Hopefully. She lightly traced her ear where Seulgi’s fingers had brushed at her hair.

How dare she make Irene fall for her.

She spent the rest of the sale period on the hot bar, feeling safer with even those two feet of space between them.

“It’s over!” Yeri cried, throwing her arms around Joy and startling the customer she was in the middle of helping. Irene felt relieved, too, and motioned for Wendy to slide back in to cover for her.

Steeling herself, she stepped up to Seulgi. “Take your break, please.”

Seulgi was the one sweating now, beads of perspiration dotting her forehead. She doffed her glasses and wiped at the bridge of her nose. “Yes, boss,” she teased, enjoying the look of disgust Irene gave her.

“I told you not to do that.”

Seulgi gave her a big grin and vacated her station. As she scooted around Irene, a sudden devious inspiration overtook her and tugged at Irene’s apron strings, untying the knot.

Irene sharply inhaled and turned, aiming a kick at Seulgi’s knees. “Break. _Now_.”

Seulgi beat a hasty retreat to the back room.

Joy, Yeri, and Wendy were all staring at Irene as she retied her apron. She glared back at them, though a deep blush on her cheeks underminded her expression.

“Yes?” she demanded.

Yeri and Joy shared a look, but Wendy was the only one brave enough to offer an answer. “I’ve just never seen her do something like that before.”

Clearly frustrated, Irene turned her attention to the waifish barista. “Do what, exactly?”

Wendy seemed to understand that her life hung in the balance and decided against answering.

Irene double-knotted her apron and started cleaning up the disaster that Seulgi had left on the cold bar. After a moment of reorganizing the ingredients and wiping down the blenders, she took a long, deep breath.

She turned back around and faced her crew. “You guys did really well today. I think this sale is going to go well. Joy, before you leave tonight could you please run the numbers for me?” The tension on the floor visibly broke and everyone seemed to relax all at once. Irene knew it was her fault. Seulgi’s teasing was having a negative effect on her.

Once upon a time she had asked the ‘Legendary Barista’ if her feelings for Eunae would impact her work, but now Irene felt the tables had turned. _Her_ feelings for _Seulgi_ were clearly impairing her ability to lead. How could she operate if she was constantly being pushed and pulled back and forth like this? How much longer could she continue to do her job like this?

Suddenly a suggestion Heechul had made to her a couple of weeks ago didn’t seem quite so far-fetched.

 

_“So who quit?” he asked Yongsun as they were coming out of their district meeting._

_“Dami and Haeryeong,” the pink-haired barista replied despondently. “Haeryeong was a floor manager. They won’t be easy to replace.”_

_Heechul thought for a moment. “It’s too bad I can’t give you Moonbyul…” he said half to himself. “Irene, what if you gave her Seulgi? She’s such a force, I’m sure she could really help them get back on their feet.”_

_Irene laughed in surprise. “You want me to give them my strongest barista? You’ve got to be joking.” She had other reasons for feeling a little possessive of Seulgi, but there was also her tentative status as a brand new store manager to consider. If she failed even one health inspection, she could be fired._

_“Just think about it,” he said, watching her shrewdly. “What about Joy, then?”_

_“Joy’s too new,” Irene said. She had every faith that Joy would grow into her position as a floor manager, but giving her to the Drivethru would be like throwing her to the wolves. That store was the black sheep of their district. “I could give her Joy if you gave us Moonbyul to replace her. I’d rather do that than give them Seulgi.”_

_“Whoa, hey, don’t get too excited, there!” Heechul said with his hands raised. “Now you’re asking for_ my _best barista!” He reached out and ruffled Yongsun’s hair and she squawked in protest. “Don’t worry, kiddo, for now you can keep Hyejin. We’ll figure out something permanent.”_

 

Irene excused herself from the floor with a handful of dishes that needed to be put through the machine. Seulgi was predictably seated at the desk, eating a sandwich. She seemed exhausted now that she was off the floor, barely propped up on her elbows, her back hunched, her legs kicked out in front of her under the desk.

Irene felt bad. She shouldn’t have relied on her so heavily for the whole three-hour sale. She should have rotated herself or Yeri in for a brief respite. Her anger at Seulgi’s cavalier attitude simmered to a dull irritation as she carefully set the dishes down in the sink.

Seulgi tiredly roused herself and sat up straighter. She smiled when she turned and saw that it was Irene.

Too familiar. This needed to stop. Now.

“Seulgi,” Irene began, steeling herself. Seulgi could sense that Irene was settling into ‘manager mode’ again and frowned.

“Seulgi I think… I think it should be you. I think you should go to the Drivethru store.”

Seulgi slowly set her sandwich down on the desk.

“Things aren’t going very well over there, as I’ve told you, and Heechul and I discussed it,” she continued, soldiering on without looking to see Seulgi’s reaction. “You’d be a big help. It just makes the most sense.”

“Does it?” she heard Seulgi ask in a neutral voice.

Irene chanced a look at her. Seulgi was watching her with a pensive expression.

Not seeing Seulgi nearly every day would undoubtedly do wonders for her leadership skills if the past few weeks were any indication. “I think it would be for the best.”

“Do you?”      

Irene could feel her frustration rising again, provoked by Seulgi’s calm demeanor. “Don’t _you_?” she shot back suddenly. She gestured up at the camera watching them even here, in the back room. “Do you know I could be one phone call away from a disciplinary review?! And not because the safe was short, and _not_ because I fired someone against policy...” _but because of you._ “I can’t work like this,” she said, her voice dropping until it was barely above a whisper.

“I can’t do my job with you here,” she finished, gazing at the floor.

She heard Seulgi stand with the tell-tale sound of the desk chair’s wheels rolling across the tiled floor. She saw Seulgi’s feet walk across the room until they stopped in front of her own.

“Why?” she heard Seulgi ask. She wouldn’t look up. She _couldn’t_ look up.

“... You know why.”

There was a pause that lasted so long Irene almost found the courage to finally meet Seulgi’s gaze, but just as she was about to look up, Seulgi suddenly walked away.

“Fine,” Seulgi said, going back to the desk to toss the rest of her sandwich in the trash. “I’ll do it. Let me know when you fill out the paperwork, and I’ll sign it,” she said as she left the back room, leaving Irene all alone at the sink.

Before she could change her mind, Irene took a seat at the desk and pulled out the carbon-paper transfer form.

+++

 

The rest of the evening shift passed by strangely. Joy and Yeri were closing together, but for some reason Seulgi had sent Wendy home early, opting to take her place as the pre-closer. Irene still being in the back room long after her shift had technically ended had become the norm, so the fact that she was still around barely registered to the girls.

The strangeness came from Seulgi’s expressions. All throughout the evening she had worn this faint, wan smile, so very different from the playful one she had had during the sale. While Yeri was dying to ask, she had a suspicion that it had to do with Irene and that she should wait until their boss finally left to satiate her curiosity.

But suddenly Irene stuck her head out from the back room and motioned for Seulgi. “Could I see you for a second?” she asked coolly.

Seulgi suppressed a wry smirk. “I’ll be right there.” She could feel Yeri boring holes in the back of her head with her stare. She walked past the blonde and gently tugged on her ponytail on her way towards the stockroom.

Once she was sure the door had swung to a shut, she walked over to the desk where Irene sat. Irene didn’t look at her.

“It’s ready. All you have to do is sign here and date it, then I’ll take it over to the Drivethru tomorrow and have Elly sign it. I already called her. Everything’s all set.”

“That easy, huh?” Seulgi asked, still trying her best to keep her smile in check.

Her odd tone made Irene glance at her as she slid the papers over to the ‘Legendary Barista’. Was Seulgi… amused? Was she happy to be leaving?

“Y… you’ll start there after the next pay period,” Irene continued to explain, confusion marring her expression. “So, Monday.”

“Sounds good,” was all Seulgi said as she read down the page, noting that Irene listed the reason for the transfer as _barista’s request_. She barely suppressed a laugh.

Irene thought she’d feel some sense of relief as she had completed the form and called Yongsun and Elly to explain the situation to them. Well most of the situation. But all she had felt was a mild sense of loss. Like she was giving something up, and not just her best employee.

Despite having every reason to need this transfer to happen, Irene knew she was going to miss Seulgi. She was going to miss the way she had practically trained Seulgi to make her tea when they were on shift together. Or the way Seulgi used to stammer and blush when she’d take her hair down in front of her. She was even going to miss the way the rest of the crew was starting to tease them about each other.

Instead of wondering whether Seulgi was worth risking her job over, she was beginning to wonder if her job was worth risking _Seulgi_ over.

But before she could change her mind, Seulgi suddenly reached into the pencil holder and grabbed a pen.

“Sign right here?” she asked pointing at the page.

“Y-yes, right there,” Irene answered.

As soon as she had finished signing, Seulgi dropped the pen on the form and stuck her hand out to Irene with a big grin on her face. Irene was startled at the sudden gesture and stared up at the ‘Legendary Barista’ in confusion. Was she really so eager to be off that she-?

“Hi, I’m Seulgi,” she said breathlessly. “I’m a floor manager at the Drivethru store, and I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner some time.”

Irene blushed. “W-what are you doing?”

Seulgi continued to smile down at her. “Starting over,” she answered softly.

Irene squinted at her, a slow smirk spreading across her face. “I’m Irene,” she said with a note of wonder in her voice. “I’m the store manager here.” She carefully put her hand in Seulgi’s.

“And I think I’d like that very much.”

 

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((a/n Thank you for reading this little story based on my personal experiences and eye-witness accounts during my years as a barista! I very much appreciate you giving it a chance <3 If you would like to read a deleted scene from this story, and a my thoughts on completing this work, please see the original story posted on asianfanfics where you may find me under the username "ireadthisonefic". As I finish stories on AFF, I will be cross-posting them here, so please look forward to more! Thank you again, so much <3 <3 <3 -Haro))


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